


Summer

by suemarysue



Series: Snapshots [9]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Happy, Post-Captain Marvel (2019), Romance, Summer, really fluffy i hope
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:14:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26002489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suemarysue/pseuds/suemarysue
Summary: Carol’s only been home twice since she crashed into the Blockbuster almost a year and a half ago. One trip went very well, and the other did not. This time, Carol is scheduled to spend the summer with Maria and Monica -- to figure out whether this could truly work.
Relationships: Carol Danvers & Maria Rambeau & Monica Rambeau, Carol Danvers & Nick Fury, Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau
Series: Snapshots [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1467181
Comments: 37
Kudos: 82





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this, and my others in this series. This rare pair deserves all the stories, and I'm happy to contribute to the fandom.
> 
> My stories are out of order, I know, and thank you for following along! This is set after Chapter 5 of "Valentine," when Carol came home and they ran into an ex of Maria's, had a fight, and then Talos called Carol with an emergency.
> 
> My last story was super angsty, and I didn't want that to be the last one. So this is fluffy! There may be a very tiny amount of angst, but not between Carol and Maria.
> 
> This one might be a little slower to update than I usually do, but I didn't want to delay it any longer. The prologue is short, but the other chapters will be longer.

“Maria, I don’t know about this,” Carol says to the hologram in front of her.“What if someone walks in?”

“You don’t lock your door?”

“No, it’s …. Hang on.” Carol stops, runs to the door, locks it, and then back to her bed. “Yeah, it was locked.”

“Then who’s gonna walk in?”

Carol sighs.

“We don’t have to,” Maria offers.

“No, no. It’s just … where do I put this,” Carol points to the communicator, “while we’re …?”

“Wherever you feel comfortable. Mine’s on your pillow.”

Carol puts the communicator down on her single pillow and then rests her head next to it. “How’s this?”

“Little too close, honey. All I can see is your nose.”

Carol laughs and moves it back, off the pillow. “How’s that?”

“Perfect.”

“You’re perfect.” Carol yawns. “I’m really tired. Gonna fall asleep.”

“That’s the whole point.”

It’s been almost five months since Carol last returned to Earth, a less than ideal return in February (jealously, a fight, Carol leaving because of an emergency). And though they’d made up, it was long distance, and they haven’t seen each other in person since.

Carol’s only been home twice since she crashed into the Blockbuster almost a year and a half ago. One trip was great, and the other was not.

This time, Carol is scheduled to be back for at least two months, the whole summer with Maria and Monica. This summer is basically (though they haven’t explicitly discussed it) to figure out whether this could truly work.

For now though, it’s time for bed. Carol has one last project on her to do list, but she can’t start it for 12 hours, and then she’s headed home.

Carol had been exhausted when she called, so Maria suggested they lay in their beds and pretend they were next to each other. Monica’s already asleep, but it’s a little earlier than Maria would usually go to bed and she still had a few things to do. She doesn’t mind, though. She can do the dishes in the morning. The company tonight is well worth it.

“Miss … you,” Carol mumbles.

“In two days, you’ll be right here next to me.”

Carol’s asleep.

“Miss you too, honey. See you soon.”


	2. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

When Maria walks in the back door, the first sign that Carol’s home is her space suit boots, neatly standing next to one another, by the door.

Maria’s main feeling is … relief. She’s happy Carol’s home, no doubt, but more than anything, she’s relieved. Carol could always take care of herself, even more so now, but Maria worries about her, out there by herself, and not just physically.

Maria’s seen how deeply Carol sleeps when they’re together, and knows that’s not the case when she’s in space, and wasn’t the case when she was with the Kree. If Carol can stay two months, like they’ve planned, that’s a lot of good nights of sleep that Maria knows she needs.

Also, simply, Maria’s missed Carol.She’s ready to be with her — to talk with her, hold her, comfort her, check her scars, make her laugh, cook her dinner, watch her be with Monica.

Two months.

And while knowing Carol’s home makes her heart swell, the way she has her boots arranged also makes Maria a little concerned.

Carol was never really messy, being in the Air Force wouldn’t allow for that, but she was less particular about where she put her stuff at home. She would leave her shoes by the front door (most of the time), but she kicked them off quickly and left them in whatever haphazard state they landed in.

Carol doesn’t do that at home anymore. The first time, Maria thought it was because all her clothes were dripping with rain, but Carol has done it every time she’s entered the house since then. It’s not just her shoes — Carol has, in general, been tidier than she remembers.

If Carol’s changed, that’s fine. The Kree were much more focused on order and discipline than even the Air Force was, so it makes sense that those habits would stick around. But if Carol’s being so careful with her things because she feels like a guest, then that’s something Maria would like to work through.

This is Carol’s home. _Carol_ calls it her home. She should be comfortable enough to leave her stuff strewn about.

But Maria doesn’t want to ask about it. If things between them were a little more solid, she could probably just bring it up, but after Carol’s last time home went so poorly, Maria doesn’t want to do anything to put her ill at ease. Maria wants to make sure Carol knows she’s in love with her as she is now, in love the woman she has spent more than a year having long-distance talks with, and not looking for her to be the exact person she was before.

She also wants to show Carol how much she _desires_ her.

It’s been five months since they’ve seen each other. And … Carol could be a little vain. That doesn’t appear to have changed. Seeing Maria’s ex-girlfriend, who yes, is very attractive, had seemed to kick off a few insecurities in Carol. Whenever they talked on holograms, she seemed to have paid extra attention to her looks — how her hair was done, what shirt she wore, she’d even once floated the idea of piercing her ears.

Which was not at all necessary.

Carol has nothing to worry about in that department. Maria thinks that she is very attractive, always has, and she wants to make sure she never doubts that, ever again. Last month, all it had taken was Carol tossing her head back and laughing on one of their calls to distract Maria for a few days.

But that wasn’t the kind of thing that Maria could reassure Carol of when they were far apart. That could only be done in person.

And maybe Maria could use some reassurance, too. She’d had to hear about who Carol had … been involved with, a reminder that Carol could be with anyone in the universe.

Maria drops her keys and grocery bags on the kitchen counter and starts up the stairs.

Another sign that Carol is home is the sound of the shower running in their bathroom.

And that gives Maria an idea.

* * *

This is a great shower, Carol thinks, as she massages the shampoo into her hair. Maria renovated the bathroom, mostly by herself, in the last few months, and she did a great job. There’s a new vanity with a large mirror, a larger bathtub and a fancy new shower stall. Maria had given her a virtual tour, but getting to see it all in person has left Carol very impressed.

The showers on the space ship are very efficient, just barely the right amount of water to get you clean. This shower is … not that.

She probably stood in the shower for 10 minutes just letting the water flow over her, before she started washing her hair.

It’s good to be back, at her _home_ , for a lot of reasons, but right now she is really loving this shower.

Carol’s very excited. She’s barely spent two weeks with Monica and Maria since she crashed to Earth, and though they talked often on holograms, that’s not at all the same. Now she gets two months with them.

She has missed them. 

Carol’s also very nervous. Her first return last year was perfect, but the one earlier this year went poorly and she hasn’t been able to be back since.

In February, she was only able to stay for a few days, and they ran into an ex of Maria’s. Carol had been jealous and hurt and not reacted in a way she’s proud of. And then before they could work things out, Carol had to leave for an emergency. They’d seemed to patch things up over holograms, but again, that wasn’t the same.

Seeing Maria, and Monica, in person, and spending two months with them?

Carol didn’t know how that would go. They’d tried to do normal family stuff last time and it had not gone very well. She couldn’t even make breakfast or help Monica with her homework.

It had been over seven years since they’d all spent this long together.

Would they enjoy each other’s company as much while doing the boring stuff like grocery shopping, laundry and cleaning?

Carol’s also worried about whether Maria will enjoy … the less boring stuff. Her ex had been really hot.

She knows she herself will definitely enjoy that. Maria’s shirt had slipped off her shoulder when they talked last week and …

Carol’s just put more shampoo in, even though she already washed her hair. 

She takes a deep breath. She feels fairly confident the first week will go well.

Mar-vell’s ship is in a hidden and protected area while they take a breather and replan their efforts to reunite with more of the Skrull population. They are not that far from Earth, so if Carol needs to she’ll be able to return quickly, and their communication links are not in danger of going out of range. Carol’s also recruited some friends to help protect and repair the ship while she’s gone. So, Carol hopes, at least there will be no emergencies immediately like last time.

Maria’s birthday is in three days, and they’ll be a few states away hiking and spending time by a lake. They’ve got four days at a friend’s house for what Maria says is their first vacation since Monica was four years old. Carol doesn’t really remember it all that well — her memories had not quite returned as clearly as she initially thought — but Maria says they’d spent a secret long weekend in Arizona that summer. 

Carol’s just about to rinse the shampoo out, again, when Maria climbs into the shower, her hair covered and wearing the yellow robe Carol gave her in February.

“Oh. Hey. Hi.” Carol beams at her. “Was just thinking about you.”

Maria doesn’t say anything, simply leans in and kisses Carol.

“Always thinking about you.” Carol sighs easily.  “Your robe...”

Maria still doesn’t say a word in response. She opens the shower door, takes off the robe, and tosses it to the floor.

“Oh, fuck.”  Maria’s wearing the lingerie that Carol gave her last time.  “You’re so hot. Are we gonna…?”

Maria shrugs. “If you want to?”

“Yeah, yeah, I want to,” Carol says, laughing. She reaches out, but Maria moves away and smirks at her. “Get over here, Rambeau.”

"This better?" Maria presses herself fully against Carol.

“Yes ... Oh ... I must look a mess.”

“You’re so beautiful.” Maria kisses Carol’s right temple. “So sexy.” Then her left.

“It’s your birthday weekend, not mine.  And I owe you an apology—”

“We will get to all that. But right now I would like to welcome you home. You want to do this, right?”

“I want this, and you, _very much_.” 

“Me too." Maria pushes them both under the hot water. "So relax, and let me welcome you home.”

“I can do that.” Carol  had a lot she wanted to say, but she’s having a hard time remembering much of it right now. “You did…”

“Shhh.”

“What time—”

Maria groans. “Stop. Talking.”

Carol exhales, a small laugh. “Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

It’s late in the afternoon when Carol leaves the bed to get dressed and go pick up Monica. 

Monica still has some shopping to do for Maria’s birthday, so Carol asked if she could get some one-on-one time with Lieutenant Trouble after softball camp. They’ll pick up dinner and do a quick (secret) mall visit on the way home.

Maria’s asleep when it’s time to go, so Carol presses a soft kiss to her cheek and quietly leaves the room. 

Carol’s feeling as relaxed as she can remember, and relieved, though she would never admit that. She’s also very happy and maybe a little smug.

After their reunion in shower, they’d moved on to teary apologies and desperate, needy makeup sex in their room. And then later …

Maybe more than a little smug. 

* * *

Carol arrives a little early to pick Monica up from softball camp, hoping to catch her first ever glimpse of Monica playing.

She’s not the only … parent? She and Maria still need to talk about some things, but Maria was the one who said parent last time Carol was there. She’s not the only person who has done this. There are about ten adults sitting in the bleachers as the team finishes a scrimmage.

Carol finds a spot about eight rows up and sits down. Monica plays shortstop and third base, but right now she’s at third, smacking her glove as the pitcher winds up. Carol watches for a few minutes, delighted to see Monica in action, and the pitcher gives up two hits. Both are to right field, so the ball doesn’t go in Monica’s direction, but Carol feels very proud that Monica’s always in good position and ready at the hot corner.

“Oh, hi, you’re Carol, right?” A man to her right says. Carol’s about to respond, but then the batter hits a ball down the third base line. She holds up her index finger, hoping the man gets it, and doesn’t interrupt this moment.

Monica hustles forward, picks up the ball cleanly, and tosses it over to first base for an out. Carol restrains herself from cheering — it’s a scrimmage and Maria told her multiple times that spectators are not allowed to cheer — but she is bursting on the inside. She’s always wanted to play baseball and softball with Monica. Finally getting to see her play is really fucking cool.

Monica’s out turned out to be the last play of the scrimmage, and the team jogs over to the dugout area for the final words from their coaches, before packing up their stuff.

“Yes, Carol Danvers, hi.” Carol says to the man who spoke to her before. “Sorry. Didn’t want to miss that. Don’t get to see her play that much. You’re … Steve, right?”

Carol recognizes him as one of the dads from the restaurant after Monica’s basketball game.

“Simon.”

“Sorry. Met a lot of people that night. Your daughter plays softball, too?”

“Yeah. She was the pitcher.” He points to Carol’s hat. “Red Sox fan?”

“I am. Please don’t say you’re a Yankees fan.”

“No, no. Red Sox. My whole life.”

“Oh my God. Been dying to talk to another Red Sox fan.”

“You see the highlights from last night?”

Carol shakes her head. “Got off the plane a little while ago. What happened?”

Simon fills her in on the game, a comeback win for the Red Sox, while they wait for the girls. Carol almost can’t believe she’s getting to talk baseball with another Red Sox fan.

“They’re playing on TV next weekend. Why don’t the three of you come over for the game?”

Carol hesitates.

“It’s OK, you don’t have to.”

“No, no. Let me talk to Maria. I would love to, but I just got in this morning and I don’t know plans after this weekend.”

“Maria has our number, and we’ll probably see you at Wednesday’s game, right?”

“Yes!”

Carol’s going to get to see Monica play in a real game on Wednesday night, against a neighboring camp. Everyone on her ship has heard _a lot_ about this game. Talos even got to hear about it from Monica, when Carol pulled him in to the conversation the first time she was told about it.

“CAROL!!!”

Carol turns to see Monica, still in uniform, running towards her. “Gotta go,” she says with a grin to Simon and jogs down the steps two at a time. Monica crashes into her and Carol puts on a show of sitting down on the first row of the bleachers, as if Monica could ever knock her over.

“Lieutenant Trouble!”

“You made it!”

“Every once in awhile one of my plans works out. Can I have another hug, please?” Monica wraps her arms around her. “I really missed you.”

When they pull back, Monica won’t look up, and hides her face. She’s crying.

Carol puts a hand on Monica’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s OK.”

“I don’t want to … here.” Monica’s voice is so low Carol can barely hear her.

Now Carol gets it — Monica’s friends are around. “We can fix that,” Carol whispers. She takes off her sunglasses, a nice pair of Aviators that were one of her birthday presents when she came home last time, and puts them on Monica’s face. “Now with these, and your hat, no one can see you.”

“I’m sorry.” They’re both still whispering.

“It’s OK to cry. Want another hug?” Monica nods and leans in again. “How about we sit here for a bit before we go to the mall? You can tell me all about how practice went today?”

Monica nods into Carol’s shoulder. 

“OK, sweetheart. Let’s do that.”

* * *

Monica’s a little quiet at first, but after a few questions from Carol about softball, and once all the other kids are gone, she opens up. Their conversation on the drive to the mall is closer to how they’ve been chatting for the past year on holograms. Carol’s relieved and enjoying how excited Monica is, but it still twists her heart quite a bit that her return made Monica so emotional.

When they get to the mall, Monica heads straight for the fanciest clothing store Carol’s ever seen. “Here,” she says, and darts inside.

“Monica,” Carol calls after her, quickly trying to catch up.

“Sooooo…..?” Monica points to a gorgeous dark red winter coat.

Carol looks at the price tag. Almost $200, which is all the money that Maria put in her wallet. It’s a little weird, but there’s really no way around it, that Maria has to give her money. Maria insists it’s fine, but Carol still feels a bit awkward.

But all that was besides the point at the moment — because $200 was more than enough to pick up dinner and fill up the gas tank in Maria’s car, Carol’s two non secret tasks for this evening. She thought she’d have plenty leftover for whatever Monica wanted to buy for her mother’s birthday.

“Whaddya think?”

If Carol buys the coat, she won’t be able to do anything else.

“Uh, Monica, how about we find something else?”

“Mom won’t like it?”

“No, she’d love it. It’s beautiful.” Carol sighs. “But, I’m sorry … I don’t have enough money.”

“Oh!” Monica says, excited again. “I have money for it!”

“You have two hundred dollars?”

“Yeah! I can show you!” Monica starts to open her backpack, but Carol stops her.

“No, Trouble. I believe you. Keep it in your bag for now,” Carol says, trying to not to think about how Monica spent all day at camp with that much money in her backpack.

“I saved all my Christmas money and my allowance! I wanted to get Mom something really nice. And I need you to help me get the right size.”

A bubbly woman, maybe ten years older than Carol, approaches. “Hey there, Monica!”

“Hi! Carol, this is Mrs. Hughes! Laura’s mom! She owns the store.”

“You can call me Bridget.” They shake hands. “So, are we getting this coat?”

“Yes!” Monica squeals.

“Alright! Let’s get the size sorted out then?” She turns to Carol. “I understand you’re our model?”

Carol’s still trying to remember who Laura is, and commit another name to memory. She didn’t really prepare herself to talk to new people today. “Uh, Maria’s a little taller than me, but yeah I think I can try it on.”

Bridget helps Carol into the coat. “Too small,” she says and quickly has Carol take it off. “Alterations are complimentary, we just want to get it as close as we can for when Mom opens it on her birthday. Sunday, right?”

“Uh huh,” Monica says. “She’s going to be so surprised.”

Carol puts on another size that they all decide will fit Maria best, and Bridget walks behind the counter to gift wrap it.

“You did a good job picking this out. You've got the best sense of style,” Carol says to Monica as they wait.

“Mom always says she needs a new coat, but then never gets one. She’ll like it?”

Carol does remember that even when she gave Maria bad gifts, and she gave some bad gifts sometimes, Maria always appreciated the sentiment. In this case, both the sentiment and the gift itself are beautiful.

“She will love it. One thousand percent.”

* * *

“Distract Mom while I hide this in your bag,” Monica says just before she and Carol enter the house with the pizza they picked up on the way home. The coat box, expertly gift-wrapped, is a little too big for Monica to easily carry, but she insisted on doing it herself.

“Aye, Lieutenant.” Carol salutes and then opens the door, shielding Monica from view as they enter.

“Hi Mom,” Monica says, before dashing up the stairs. “Be right back!”

“Okay, baby. Don’t forget to wash your hands,” Maria calls back without looking up. Her attention is on the counter in front of her and three large sandwiches.

Carol puts the pizza down on the table and then unties her sneakers and arranges them next to each other by the back door.

“What are you doing? We brought dinner in.” She slides in next to Maria at the counter and takes a moment to enjoy the view. Her girlfriend’s brow furrowed in concentration, her muscles straining as she struggles to open a jar, a Red Sox shirt hanging… “Hey! That’s my shirt.”

“Didn’t think you’d object.”

“Looks better on you,” Carol whispers. “Thought you’d still be asleep.”

Maria kisses the smirk off Carol’s face.

“So what’s going on here?”

“Lunch for us tomorrow.” Maria bangs the jar on the counter and tries again. “If I can get these damn pickles out.”

“I was thinking, on my way here. … You sure your parents don’t mind us being away on your birthday?”

“It’s their friend’s house we’re going to.”

“We could swing by to see them on our way tomorrow?”

“It’s a long drive. I’ll see them next week, honey.”

"You sure?"

"It's fine."

Another bang of the jar.

“I can help with that, you know.”

“I can do it.”

“I have no doubt, but what good’s all this,” Carol briefly heats up a hand, “if I can’t help?”

“Show-off.” Maria bangs the jar again.

“You know it.” Carol moves in closer. “Didn’t hear you complaining earlier.”

Maria can’t resist the low sound of Carol’s voice. “Alright.”

Carol’s behind her before she can hand over the pickles. “Together.” Carol slowly covers Maria’s arms and hands with her own, so they are both holding the lid at the same time.

“Damn, Carol.”

“This okay?”

“Yeah,” Maria breathes as Carol traces her mouth up and down her bare neck. She closes her eyes. What were they supposed to be doing? Oh, right. “The jar?”

“It’s open,” Carol whispers.

Maria opens her eyes. Carol opened it so easily, and distracted her so thoroughly, she hadn’t even noticed. “I loosened it,” Maria says, turning in Carol’s arms so they’re facing each other.

“You sure did. Wanna loosen more?”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Been alone for five months. Little rusty,” Carol shrugs. “Kiss me, please?”

Monica is, thankfully, always very loud running down the steps. They break apart before getting too carried away.

* * *

“So you changed its orbit?”

Over dinner, Carol fills in Monica and Maria about her last task before she came back home — redirecting a meteor that had been about to fly a bit too close to a small planet into a new and safer orbit.

“Yeah, Trouble. It was really cool. We had the whole science team running the show. I had to grab it at the exact right moment and nudge it with the exact right force.”

“Couldn’t you just blow it up?”

“Can’t predict where the pieces will go.” Carol walks over to the pizza box. “Anyone want more? Still a few slices left.”

Monica shakes her head.

“Couldn’t eat another bite,” Maria says. “The rest are all yours.”

Carol piles the remaining three slices onto her plate and sits back down at the dinner table. She laces her fingers with Maria’s, and rests their hands on her right leg, the way they’ve been sitting throughout dinner.

“So what time we leaving tomorrow? Eight hours to Norman, right?”

Monica and Maria exchange a look.

“I get the city wrong? It’s Oklahoma, right?”

Worry flashes across Carol’s face, and Maria notices it immediately. “Nothing bad.” She squeezes Carol’s hand. “We have a surprise for you.”

Monica runs into the living room.

“It’s _your_ birthday.”

Maria kisses Carol’s shoulder. “So let me surprise you.”

“Close your eyes! No peeking!”

“I got that covered.” Maria covers Carol’s eyes with both hands.

When Carol’s allowed to open her eyes, Monica is standing in front of her, wearing a Red Sox hat and jersey … and holding three tickets.

“Will you come to the Red Sox game with us on Saturday in Texas?”

Carol looks at Maria, excited but a little skeptical. “You really want to do this on your birthday weekend?”

“Oh, we’re still going to Oklahoma, and celebrating my birthday.” Maria puts an arm around Carol’s shoulders. “Just a quick stop first.”

“And back in time for softball camp on Tuesday,” Monica adds.

Carol smiles. “Definitely back in time for softball camp. And Wednesday’s game!”

Monica waves the tickets. “Sooooooo do you want to go?”

“A Red Sox game with the both of you?” Carol motions for Monica to sit on her lap and kisses her forehead when she does. She kisses Maria’s forehead as well. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

* * *

Carol sneaks out of bed and downstairs an hour before Maria’s set the alarm. She wants to make breakfast for everyone before their drive to Arlington, but it’s going to take a bit to jog her memory. She pulls a crumpled paper out of her knapsack, a pancake recipe she ripped from a cookbook in the basement the last time she was home.

But when she gets into the kitchen she realizes she doesn’t need the paper. 

Maria’s left a binder labeled “recipes” on the counter. Carol opens it to find pages and pages of detailed hand-written notes and illustrations on how to make all of their favorite foods, from complicated meals to the most basic pastas and soups.

And all the cabinets and drawers have labels on the outside, letting Carol know where to find everything — flour, spices, cups, dishes.

Carol’s first thought — her only thought — is that she wants to marry Maria. It’s not the first time she’s thought this, she realizes, but it’s the first time since she returned that she’s thought it.

She has to sit down.

No, the _first_ time was the night of Boston's infamous Game 6 World Series loss, when she broke a lamp, and spilled beer all over the couch, and woke Monica — and Maria didn’t say a word about it, just took care of Monica and then went back to sleep. (Carol, of course, cleaned up the living room before sitting angrily on the couch all night.)

But Maria’s parents didn’t even know that Maria liked women, let alone that she was dating Carol, and it wasn’t like they could get married anyway.

It’s probably not even the second (oh … that was the morning after the Red Sox lost Game 7), third, or tenth time, Carol figures, and if she thought hard enough she could probably remember them all.

But right now, she wants to run upstairs, shake Maria awake, and propose.

She won’t. It’s too soon. (And she doesn't do it for at least two more years.)

She will, however, make breakfast for everyone.

* * *

Maria’s just taken the last bite of her pancake when she catches Carol looking at her, a silly grin on her face.

“What?”

“Good pancakes, right?”

Maria finishes chewing and gives Carol a look. “Yes, we told you a hundred times. Don’t go getting a big head about this, too.”

Carol’s still grinning. “Probably too late for that.”

“Yeah, I know.”


	3. Maria's Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this. I hope you enjoy it!

**2:41 a.m.**

Maria can’t sleep.

Carol was more than happy to drive the entire way to Texas and Maria was more than happy to let her. Monica wanted to sit up front with Carol, and Maria didn’t mind that at all either. For starters, it meant she could watch her daughter and her girlfriend laugh and sing along to the radio … and it also meant she could get a nice nap.

But — apparently it was much more than a nap. She slept the entire way, only waking up for lunch before settling in for four more hours until they got to the hotel.

While sleeping was great, the downside is that it’s now almost 3 a.m. and Maria’s barely slept for an hour. She’s staring at the ceiling of their hotel room, desperate to at least get a little bit more sleep in before the full day they’ve got planned. Falling asleep at the baseball game doesn’t seem like a good idea.

**2:54 a.m.**

Maria still can’t sleep.

**3:12 a.m.**

At least everyone else is still asleep. Monica’s snoring on the other bed in the room, and Carol’s also out, her head rested on Maria’s chest, and an arm and a leg draped over her as well.

Carol’s hair is up in a ponytail, so Maria’s got a good view of the scar on her neck from that thing the Kree put in her. It looks like a freckle to anyone else, but Maria knows every inch of Carol’s body and knows exactly what that is.

Carol has three scars that haven’t healed. The one on her neck, and one just above either hip. Maria asked about those, that first week they were reunited, and Carol said they were from the transfusions when she was first brought to Hala.

Maria tried to ask more about all three scars, but Carol (politely) declined to discuss further, as she did of most of her time with the Kree. Which, Maria understands why, but she hopes that Carol talks to someone about it.

**3:33 a.m.**

Maria looks at the door, with Carol’s shoes neatly arranged next to it, and hers and Monica next to them. Carol must’ve done that — Maria didn’t and Monica would not have. All of their suitcases are lined up against the wall, which was certainly Carol’s doing, because Monica quickly made a mess when they arrived.

So maybe it is just a new neatness habit for Carol.

Or they are all guests here in the hotel, and only Carol’s a guest at home.

Maria really would like to go back to sleep, and not stay up all night worrying about this.

It feels a little silly to be awake and anxious when her family is so close to her.

**3:49 a.m.**

Maria’s counted 263 sheep when she starts to hear sounds in the hall. It’s quiet whispering at first, but then a little louder and closer to their door, until something, a suitcase perhaps, drops on the ground with a thud.

At even the first sound, Maria could feel a shift in Carol, who was maybe not as sound asleep as she thought. When the suitcase hits the floor, Carol still doesn’t move, and her eyes aren’t open, but Maria can tell she’s very awake and very alert. Like the engine of the ASIS before take off, silent but powerful.

“Shhhh!!!” A voice in the hall, loudly trying to silence the rest of the group. “People are SLEEPING! Pick up your suitcase!”

The elevator, unfortunately too close to their room, dings, and the group climbs in. The doors shut, and it’s finally quiet again. Maria can feel Carol relax.

**4:19 a.m.**

Maybe Maria’s also a little stressed about her birthday, she thinks. She’s never been the biggest fan. But this one has her whole family together again. She doesn’t want to be stressed about it this time.

“You wanna talk about it?” A whisper from Carol, her eyes still closed, her mouth pressed against Maria’s shirt.

“How did—” Maria stops herself. She could tell earlier that Carol had only been merely resting, so of course she had noticed Maria wasn’t asleep. Probably had known even longer than Maria had known that she herself was awake. “It’s nothing,” she whispers. “Slept too long in the car.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Carol slides to the other side of the bed.

“Come back.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Roll over.” When Maria doesn’t move right away, Carol nudges her. “Roll over. Trust me.”

Maria rolls onto her side, facing the interior of the room. Carol presses her front fully against Maria’s back, and links their left hands together against Maria's stomach. “Even if you can’t sleep … it’s still so early, try to relax.” A quick, quiet laugh. “Easier said than done, I know, but I hope you can rest.”

“Sorry I woke you.”

“It’s OK. I’ve got you.”

Maria lets herself exhale … and she does feel better. She may not be about to fall asleep, but she can feel the tension subsiding.

Carol must feel it as well. “Good, good,” she whispers, squeezing Maria’s hand.

**9:58 a.m.**

“I’m hungry!”

“Shhh you’ll wake her up.”

“Shouldn’t she be awake already?”

“She had trouble sleeping.”

Whispered voices.

**10:05 a.m.**

“We’ll be late for the game!”

“We have plenty of time.”

Not really whispered voices, but they’re trying.

**10:09 a.m.**

“If I slept this late, even on a Saturday, I’d be in big trouble.”

“And that would be entirely correct.”

“Uggghhhhhh.”

Maria laughs.

“She’s awake! I knew you were pretending, Mom!”

Maria opens her eyes just in time to see Monica bounce onto the bed right in front of her.

“I just woke up.”

“Suuuure.”

“Thanks for being so quiet.” Maria takes a quick glance at the other bed. Carol throws up her hands and mouths, “I tried.”

“Carol said you couldn’t sleep. Do you feel OK?” The teasing is gone, entirely replaced by Monica’s concern.

Maria sits up and puts an arm around her daughter. “Oh, baby. I’m fine. Just slept too much on the way here.”

“This is why we don’t take long naps, young lady.”

Maria rolls her eyes. “You got me this time.”

“Are you hungry? We got breakfast!” Monica points to the other bed, where Carol sits with three bags of food in her lap. “We didn’t eat any yet. Carol’s been keeping it warm.”

“I hope McDonald’s can count as breakfast,” Carol says quickly. “There wasn’t anywhere else around—”

“Did you get me an Egg McMuffin?”

“We got six Egg McMuffins.”

“Then we’re good.”

“See, Carol. I told you,” Monica says.

Carol sits on the end of the bed facing them both. She hands Maria a coffee and passes out the breakfast sandwiches while Monica sorts out the orange juices.

“Ask her about camping,” Monica says once they’ve started eating.

“I said later,” Carol says quietly, but quickly learns that her words won’t stop a very excited 12-year-old.

“When you go on your business trip, can Carol and I go camping? She doesn’t know how to fish! I have to teach her.”

Maria’s got two sets of wide eyes staring back at her, one excited and the other worried.

“Baby, I didn’t even get a chance to tell Carol I have to go yet.” Monica groans, and Maria can see Carol relax when she looks at her. “Fury called the other day, asked me to go out to LA for a few days. I will fill you in on everything.”

“Can we go, Mom? Please? Please?”

“This isn’t a yes,” Maria starts, cautiously as Monica squeals. “There are things we need to figure out — so Carol and I will talk about it, and we will let you know what we decide.”

“We’re going camping!”

“She didn’t say that,” Carol whispers.

“We’re going camping,” Monica whispers back, hugging her mother.

* * *

The baseball game runs quite long, and then it’s a long drive to Oklahoma, where they’ll spend the rest of the weekend. They also hit a lot of traffic on the way. So, by the time they get to the house, it’s quite late. Maria helps a very tired Monica get her room set up, and Carol brings the rest of their luggage and groceries inside.

Carol’s brought their toiletries to the bathroom, and is putting their pajamas on the bed, when Maria walks in and shuts the door behind her.

“All good?”

“She’s already sound asleep.”

“This house is so nice. Did you see—“

“I’ve wanted to do this all day." Maria walks over to Carol, grabs her Red Sox jersey, and pulls her into a soft and slow kiss. At first, Carol laughs in surprise, but then lets Maria deepen the kiss, backing up against the wall.

“That was nice,” Carol says, resting her head on Maria’s shoulder. “I had a really great day with you and Monica.”

“Me too. Sorry the Red Sox didn’t win.”

“Wasn’t really expecting them to. At least we got to see them score a run.”

“You were so cute.”

Carol blushes and Maria leans down to kiss her again.

“Thanks for taking me to the game.”

“Of course.”

Carol tries to hide a yawn, but can’t, and Maria matches her. “Time for bed, I think. Wanted to stay up until midnight, but” — Carol’s words are interrupted by another set of yawns — “don’t think either of us will make it.” Carol takes her hand, walking them both to the bed, where they start changing into their pajamas.

“About camping,” Carol says, when she’s facing away from Maria.

“Fury only called me right before you left, or else I would’ve told you sooner.”

Maria knew this conversation was coming. She really didn’t mean to leave Carol out of the loop, and she also didn’t really want to leave when Carol was on Earth. She hadn’t even accepted Fury’s SHIELD offer officially, but he’d called a few days earlier and begged her to look at a new plane that was in the final stages of being built. After watching her fly, she was the only person whose opinion he trusted on this plane, he said.

“I know, I know.” Carol still doesn’t turn around. “When is it?”

“End of this month. I hate leaving when you’re here. I thought we could all go, but Monica has a game that Thursday night.”

“No, it’s OK. You should definitely go.” Carol pauses. “I just wanted to say … I know we have to figure out a way to make it all work, but I want to take Monica camping. Or look after her while you’re gone, at home. I can do it, want to do it.” She sits down to take off her socks. “Like before. If that’s what you want.”

Maria climbs on the bed and kneels behind Carol, wrapping her into a hug. “It’s what I want. What we want.”

“Good.” Carol relaxes back into Maria’s arms. “Me too.”

“Let’s go to sleep. Been a long day. Hold me?”

“Absolutely.”

It’s chilly, so Carol pulls an extra blanket over the bottom of the bed before climbing under the comforter and cuddling Maria the same way she did the night before.

“You know my feet still get really cold at night? Yours too, right?”

“Yeah,” Maria says, happy with just how … normal this feels. “Thanks for the blanket.”

“Anytime.” Carol places a single kiss on Maria’s neck. “Still a half hour to go, but happy birthday, Maria.” She squeezes their joined hands. “Love you.”

“Thanks. I love you, too.”

Maria pulls Carol’s arm in tighter, and Carol gets the message, pressing all of herself even closer.

“Not too tight, right?”

“Not at all.”

Maria has a much more restful night. She doesn’t wake up until morning, with a sleeping Carol’s arms around her. It’s been eight years since she woke up on her birthday like this, and it’s still quite early, so Maria’s not about to move. But then Carol wakes up and has other ideas on how to spend the morning, ideas that require moving, and Maria’s not about to argue.

The rest of her birthday is also pretty perfect. The three of them make breakfast together in the kitchen, before a long hike by a lake and then dinner by a campfire in the backyard.

* * *

Maria and Carol split the driving on the way home. Carol likes driving, and would’ve been happy to drive the whole way, but she doesn’t really get too many opportunities to just … sit. So, being in the passenger’s seat, listening to Monica talk and sing, watching Maria drive … that’s really nice.

Maria still bites her lip when she switches lanes. Carol hadn’t remembered that until right now. It’s adorable.

“I love this song! Turn it up, please!” Carol turns up the volume, and Monica sings along to the radio. Maria does, too. They’ve heard it a few times, so Carol’s starting to get the hang of it, but she’s still far from knowing the words as well as they do to this and many other songs.

There’s a lot of music to catch up on. She’ll have to pick up some tapes this week.

“I bet we catch so many fish!”

Monica’s stopped singing, and gone back to her favorite topic of the drive — all of her plans for the still unapproved camping trip.

“No pressure,” Maria laughs.

“I will settle for one, Lieutenant," Carol says before both she and Maria remind Monica the trip is still not official yet.

"I know," Monica replies, before launching back into a list of all the things they'll do on the trip.

Carol wants to go camping, of course, but it’s also very stressful. Spending four days with Monica, with Maria on the other side of the country, means Carol can’t have to leave in an emergency, can’t forget how to do something, can’t make a mistake.

She’s not sure how to pull that off, especially the “no emergency” part, but she has to. Monica’s so excited and Carol loves that. She wants to make Monica happy, always. She wants to be a good … parent. She likes to think she was one before, or at least getting there.

They can always camp nearby, so that she can bring Monica to Maria’s parents if something happens. But … something tells her that might not be an option. She hasn’t been able to get anything out of Maria about it, but she still thinks it’s weird that they didn’t at least go by to say hello to her parents before they headed out of town.

And if it did come to that, Monica would be so disappointed.

Life was so much simpler when Monica was little, Carol thinks, but then realizes that maybe it wasn’t. Until they found an awesome babysitter, they ran into all sorts of problems with taking care of Monica and juggling their schedules.

Carol will talk to Talos and see if they can pull this off.

“Oh! I decided what I want to do for my birthday,” Monica says, interrupting her own monologue about fishing techniques.

Carol’s snapped again out of her worry. “Yeah?”

“A slumber party!”

Maria groans, but low enough that only Carol can hear. “What happened to the arcade, baby?”

“You said I had until tomorrow to pick and I pick slumber party!”

Carol’s never experienced one of Monica’s slumber parties, and she only went to one or two as a kid that she doesn’t remember all that well, but judging from Maria’s reaction … this is not a good development.

“Why don’t you think about it more today and let Mom know tomorrow?” Carol offers, trying to help.

“Slumber party!”

Maria sighs, defeated. “Okay. We’ll start planning this week.”

“Yes! Thanks, Mom,” Monica squeals. “Carol, it’s going to be so fun!”

Maria gives Carol a quick glance and shakes her head.

A few hours later at a rest stop, Carol finally gets a moment with Maria out of Monica’s earshot.

“Slumber party is really bad, huh?”

“The words no parent wants to hear. Ten sugar-filled 13 year olds in our living room all night.”

“Oh no.”

“You’ll miss the rope climb. And teething.”

“Teething?!” Carol mouths as they catch up to Monica.

Maria nods.

Carol has to make sure she won’t leave Maria alone for this party.


	4. Real Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters before have been from both Carol's and Maria's perspective, but this one is just from Carol's.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Carol, Maria, and Monica have been back from their trip for over a week, and things are settling into a nice routine. Monica got two hits in her softball game, and Carol learned just why Maria knows all the rules about how loud spectators can yell — Maria herself has trouble obeying the rules and they had to sit in the last row.

They went to watch Red Sox/Yankees last weekend at Simon’s house with his family and some other friends, and Carol really enjoyed that. She loves talking baseball, and it’s been a long time since she did that with a group of fans — and Boston won so she and Simon were able to taunt the one Yankees fan who showed up for the barbecue. But most of all, it’s nice being out with Maria as a couple, all three of them as a family, with friends, which was not really something they could do before.

But it’s all the boring stuff that Carol loves the most. And this Thursday, her list is full of boring stuff. Maria had to go into New Orleans to work on a plane, and will be gone all day, so Carol gets to do Monica’s camp drop-off and pick-up, plus a list of errands.

Carol still hasn’t seen Maria’s parents, only been able to talk to them for a moment or two on the phone. Maria’s aunt got sick, so they went to see her, and missed the game. So Carol still really isn’t sure if something’s going on. They’re back in town tomorrow, and all having Sunday dinner this weekend. Carol’s looking forward to it, but she’s also a little nervous.

Carol has a long To Do List, so she got an early start, picking up groceries for Sunday’s dinner and the rest of next week after dropping off Monica. She’s stopped by the house to drop them off before heading out to finish the rest of the errands.

Carol pulls into the driveway and spots Tom working on his truck next door.

“How’s it going, Tom? You need a hand?” Carol asks, practically falling out of her car in her hurry to talk to him.

He appears to be trying to jumpstart his truck, which even without powers, is something Carol can definitely help with. She did this a million times on her first car before upgrading to the Mustang.

“No need. Thanks.” Tom shuts the hood and immediately walks into his garage, presumably to hide. “Have a good day.”

Carol’s efforts to reach out to Tom have not gone well. She’s made it a priority this time, but she doesn’t really know where to begin. She wouldn’t worry about it too much if he just hid from her, but he’s been reserved around Maria now, which Carol definitely does not want.

“You too. Just holler if you need help. I’m happy to help!” Carol calls, but he’s already shutting the garage door. “I have jumper cables!” She sighs and pops her trunk. At least no one’s around to see her easily carry way too many bags in now.

“Making friends, I see?” Carol looks up, and there’s Fury, walking down the front steps.

He’s either a good spy or she’d been so distracted by Tom that she hadn’t spotted him. Probably a bit of both.

“I am very charming.”

“Clearly.”

Carol looks at him, unsure of what he wants. She didn’t tell him she was coming back, hasn’t told him any time she’s been back. She likes Fury, but the idea of being involved with the government … is not for her. Not after everything. “Maria’s not here. She’s out fixing a plane.”

“I came to see you.”

“How’d you know I was here?” Maria hasn’t told him anything about Carol either, she knows.

Fury points to the front door. “Can we talk inside?” When Carol doesn’t respond, he continues. “You have a key, right?”

If someone needs help, Carol will go, but she’s really hoping she doesn’t have to. “I’m on kid pickup duty today…..”

“Nothing like that. Just want to talk. And I have a gift for you.”

Carol raises an eyebrow and starts taking the grocery bags out of the trunk. “Give me hand, will ya?”

“You need help with this??”

Carol doesn’t respond, simply walks up the front steps with the majority of the bags … leaving Fury to pick up the final few, which he eventually does, with a heavy sigh.

“Don’t forget to close the trunk,” Carol calls over her shoulder as she opens the door.

Fury turns around, shuts the trunk, and hurries up the stairs.

Once they’re inside, and the groceries are on the counter, Carol puts a hand out to Fury. “My present,” she prompts, when he doesn’t react at first.

“Hello to you, too.”

“Hi.” She shakes her hand again.

“Fine,” Fury says, and reaches into his jacket pocket. He hands her a stack of hard plastic cards and papers. “Thought you could use some identification. Since you’ve been back a few times. Didn’t touch, you know, your old life. Everything’s all new, but still Carol Danvers.”

Carol looks at the stack of cards in her hand, a driver's license and passport among them, doesn’t know what to say. She hadn’t even begun to know where to begin with something like this, or what to do if she had needed an ID anywhere.

“Carol _Susan Jane_ Danvers, I should say. And you made fun of me for having three names. Used this address. Hope that’s all right.”

“Uh, yeah. Thank you.” She looks up from the cards and back at Fury. “Honestly, this means a lot.”

“It’s the last Earth could do, I think.”

“Want some water?” Fury nods and she pours them both a glass from the faucet. “Since I’ve been back a few times? How’d you find me?”

“Got word of a UFO around here, then Captain Rambeau didn’t answer the phone for several days. So I had a hunch that was clearly correct. … And I assume you were the two UFO sightings a few days apart around Valentine’s Day?”

Carol looks at him. He clearly has things figured out already. “Will it hurt Maria with SHIELD if it was?” She really hopes it doesn’t. She doesn’t want to go through that again.

“Definitely not.” Fury shakes his head. “I promise.”

“Alright.” Carol nods, but doesn’t answer his question. “I’ve got to put these away,” she says as she begins to unpack the bags on the counter. “You wanted to talk?”

* * *

Nothing’s on fire and Fury really does just want to talk, so Carol brings him around town on her errands while they chat. He has a lot of general questions about space, and spaceships, the Skrulls. He also is desperate to know everything about Flerkens, but Carol doesn’t know much. She promises to put him in touch with Talos as soon as possible.

Their first stop is at Blockbuster and Fury laughs loudly when she parks the car in front of the store.

“They didn’t ban you? They don’t have a picture of you in every store across the country?”

“Are you done?” Carol gets out of the car.

“Not sure yet.”

Fury ends up being quite helpful at Blockbuster, with several movie suggestions that sound good to Carol. Most are for the whole family, but one looks like a romantic movie. It sounds like he starts to say it’s for date night, but then stops himself and says, “Not for the kid.”

On the way to the checkout, Carol picks up a copy of “My Girl,” intrigued, but Fury takes it out of her hand and puts it back on the shelf. “Don’t do it to yourself,” he says. “Too sad.”

Then it’s on to Tower Records, where Carol’s got a hand-written list of songs Monica and Maria have liked. She leaves with albums from Mariah Carey, TLC, and Alanis Morissette. She knows she could just borrow their tapes, but she has a Walkman to take back to space now, so she needs her own copies.

Fury points to a Guns & Roses album. “You like them, right? I remember a picture of you wearing their shirt. Want it?”

“I like them, but, uh, Maria bought me all the albums I missed.” Carol turns away, unable to hide her smile and sure she’s blushing, but Fury doesn’t tease. She clears her throat and changes the subject. “You know anything about fishing?”

“Fishing?”

“Yeah, going with Lieutenant Trouble. Don’t want to be completely in over my head.”

“Can’t help you there. Never been very good at it.”

Carol sighs. “Okay, one more stop before lunch.”

Now it’s Fury’s turn to sigh. “I’m starving.”

“But I’m driving.”

* * *

Carol’s last stop is at the library. She heads straight for the librarian at the help desk, a smiling older woman whose tag reveals her name is Connie.

“Hi Connie,” Carol says and hands over her new ID. “I’d like to get a library card, please.”

“Of course,” Connie says cheerfully. “Let me get the form.”

Carol turns to say something to Fury, but he’s stopped to look at a book of poetry. He’s a surprising guy, she thinks.

“New in town?”

Carol turns back and Connie hands her the form. “Yeah, I am.”

“If you need any recommendations on sights to see and places to eat, I’m happy to help. How are you finding your time here so far?”

“It’s been perfect. This is a lovely town.” Carol picks up a pen from the counter. “Also — can you recommend some books on how to fish?”

“You got it.”

Carol fills in her information on the form, delighted to get to write down her _home_ address and phone number. By the time Carol is done, Connie has a list of fishing for beginners books. They exchange papers.

“Up the stairs and to the left,” Connie says of where to find the books. Then she notices Carol’s shirt. “You’re in the Air Force?”

“I was. Retired now.”

“There’s another Air Force veteran in town. You should meet her. Maria Rambeau. You’d probably have a lot to talk about.” Connie takes a beat, and watches Carol closely. “Did you move here alone?”

“I did.”

“Maria usually stops by on Saturdays with her daughter.”

Carol wonders — is she trying to set her up with Maria?

“She’s not married. You like kids?”

 _She is._ Carol smiles. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” Connie picks up a book from the display on the counter. “Maria just returned this last week. Said she loved it. If you want to give it a read yourself.”

Carol hides a laugh when she realizes it’s a romance novel. “I will, thanks.” She takes the book. “Saturdays?”

“Saturday mornings. Right when we open.”

“Got it, thanks.” Carol’s enjoying this all very much.

Fury wanders over to the desk to join Carol. Connie raises an eyebrow, a hint of disappointment on her face. “Your boyfriend?”

Fury starts to laugh and gets shushed by everyone in the library.

“No, ma’am. My co-worker. He’s taking me to lunch.”

“Good.” Connie smiles again. “Saturday morning.”

“Right when you open.”

Carol heads for the stairs and Fury follows her. “ _I’m_ taking _you_ to lunch?”

* * *

Carol invites Fury to dinner, but he’s on his way to Washington, and has to leave before it’s even time to pick Monica up. Carol’s sad to see him go so quickly. They’d ended up having quite a fun day together.

Fury leaves some papers for Maria to look over before she gets to Los Angeles, and a space shuttle model kit for Monica. “So she can get some practice in before building her own,” he says.

Carol laughs. “She’ll love it.”

“One more present for you.” Before he gets into his car, Fury reaches into his back pocket for a cassette tape. “The Marvellettes.”

“Not gonna sing for me this time?”

Carol extends her hand, but Fury shakes his head.

“Not falling for that again. See you around Danvers.”

* * *

“MOM!!!!”

It’s a little after 4 a.m. the next morning and Carol wakes with a start, at Monica’s anguished cry. She’s out of bed and in Monica’s room in the blink of an eye, but Monica’s not there.

“MOM!!!!!!!!!!”

Monica’s in the bathroom, Carol realizes, and races to the shut door.  “Hey sweetheart, are you OK?”

“Where’s Mom???”

“Can I help?”

“I. Need. Mom.”

“I’m here, baby.” Maria joins Carol at the door. “What’s wrong?”

There’s no response.

Maria tries again. “Can I come in?”

“Yes,” Monica says. “Just you.”

Carol looks wounded. “I wasn’t going to—,” she starts to say, but Maria puts a hand on her shoulder and shakes her head.

“Go back to bed. It’s OK,” Maria whispers.

Carol hesitates, but then realizes Maria’s not going in until she leaves. “If you need anything—”

“I will call for you. It’s OK. She’s OK.”

It’s almost an hour before Maria’s back in their room.

“Is Monica OK?” Carol asks immediately, rushing over to Maria.

Maria nods and shuts the door. “Everything’s fine. She got her first period.”

“Oh shit. Poor Monica. Need me to go to the store?”

Maria shakes her head. “Everything’s fine, really. Let’s go back to bed?” 

They lay back down in bed, facing each other. Carol pulls the blanket tighter around them, and then fixes Maria’s scarf. “She’s OK?”

Maria nods. “We’d talked a lot about it. But she still freaked out.”

“She fall back asleep?”

“Yeah. Eventually.”

“I’ll make her chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. At least she doesn’t have practice for a few days.”

“Yeah.” Maria shifts, and reaches for one of Carol’s hands. “Listen. About before…”

“No big deal. I get it.” 

“No matter what our situation is,” Maria says, ignoring Carol’s protest. “She’s not going to go to us both on every issue.”

“I know,” Carol squeezes their hands. “This isn't about me. When it happed … but I’m good now. Really. I was just worried.”

“I know.” Maria moves in closer and cuddles against Carol’s chest. “Maybe she’ll go to you about dating, and not me.”

“Don’t want to think about that yet,” Carol groans.

* * *

Monica’s in a better mood, and they all have a nice breakfast together. But other than meals, Monica spends the rest of the day in her room, which is fine with everyone.

Carol spends most of the day reading the fishing books, though she does sneak in a few chapters of the romance novel, which is quite steamy. She hasn’t told Maria about her eventful library trip yet. She’s been saving that story.

Maria’s in the backyard working on one of her neighbor’s boats, which they will pay extra to have fixed in time for their Sunday plans. Carol brings her lunch, and then dinner, since there’s not time to take too many breaks.

“I rented a bunch of movies, if you’re up for one?” Carol asks Monica as they finish dinner inside.

Monica nods, very interested, and Carol hands her the stack of family-friendly movies so she can pick one. She gets up to wash the dishes when Maria comes in the back door.

“Hey Carol,” Maria says quietly. “Come here.”

“All done? We were just about to watch a movie, you can—” She reaches out, but Maria backs up. “What’s wrong?”

“I burned my leg,” Maria says, her voice even, and now Carol can see she’s clearly not putting weight on her left leg. Maria turns and moves the tattered part of her pants out of the way. Her shin is very badly burned, and she’s got a cut that’s been bandaged, but will probably need stitches. “On the engine. I cleaned it up, but I need to see a doctor.”

Carol looks up at her, stunned. “What?? How are you so calm?!”

Maria picks up her purse and her car keys. She pours a glass of water from the faucet and downs it. “I’m going to sit in the car. Will you get Monica and drive me to the hospital?” She turns and carefully walks to the driveway.

Carol’s near full panic mode, but if Maria can be calm, she knows she has to be as well.

* * *

Maria is, thankfully, fine, but they are at the hospital for awhile. Carol can’t stand to see a clearly miserable Monica have to be stuck in the waiting room, so she calls Maria’s parents and asks them to please take Monica home and stay with her until she and Maria get back.

George comes in to the waiting room to pick her up, and Carol is happy that Monica is happy to leave. Carol says she can watch one of the movies tonight, but Monica insists on waiting until they are all together.

It’s pretty late when Maria is finally able to leave, and they have to go by the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for Maria to take over the next few days. The prescription isn’t ready, so Carol has to wait a few minutes inside, and she picks up some extra snacks and magazines since now both Maria and Monica will probably want to spend the rest of the weekend on the couch. She gets more ice cream, too.

Maria falls asleep in the car while Carol’s inside, and when they get home Carol doesn’t have the heart to wake her up. All the lights are off in the neighboring houses, so Carol puts one arm under Maria’s legs, the other around her back, and picks her up. Maria stirs slightly, but only to rest her head against Carol’s shoulder.

Carol’s heart feels like it’s turning to mush.

She kicks the car door shut and goes inside.

George has fallen asleep on the couch, but Evelyn is wide awake. She stands up as soon as they enter, alarmed. “Is she OK?”

“She’s fine. She’s fine,” Carol whispers. “She just fell asleep on the way home and I can carry her, so I didn’t wake her up.”

It’s then that Evelyn’s entire moods shifts, and Carol has a bad feeling about what’s about to come next.

“It’s good that you were here. This time.”

And now a lot is starting to make sense to Carol. “Evelyn—”

“But what if this had been last month, or a few weeks from now?”

“Maria bandaged her leg. She can take her of herself.”

Evelyn sighs. “She shouldn’t have to.”

“Let me bring Maria to her room, and I’ll come back. We can talk,” Carol offers.

“It’s late. We should be going.” Evelyn taps her husband on the shoulder and he wakes up. “Monica’s asleep in her room.”

“Evelyn, please. I love your daughter … and your granddaughter.”

“I know that.” Evelyn picks up her purse and opens the front door. “I’ll meet you in the car, George. Goodnight, Carol. I’ll call Maria in the morning.” She leaves without waiting for a response.

George is still not entirely awake, and he looks at Carol, holding Maria, confused.

“She’s fine,” Carol says, feeling stupid now for carrying Maria in like this. “I just didn’t want to wake her.”

He stands up and pats Carol on the shoulder. “We’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He shuts the door behind him.

Carol watches the door for a few moments, unable to will herself up the stairs. She snaps out of it when Maria shifts in her arms again.

“Don’t wanna … go on … rollercoaster,” Maria murmurs.

Carol looks down and kisses the top of Maria’s head, before carrying her upstairs. “Okay, sweetie, we won’t go on the rollercoaster.”


	5. Dinner Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Chapter 4 events, but from Maria's perspective. Thanks for reading!

Maria’s head is pounding when she wakes up, and she’s quite hungry, but she’s warm in bed and wearing a fresh set of pajamas. There’s no sign of Carol other than the unmade sheets next to her, but the smell of eggs and bacon from downstairs gives Maria an idea of where she went. Maria takes a drink of water from the glass on the nightstand and moves to see if she can stand up.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Maria looks at her leg, well bandaged and not hurting as badly as it did last night. She vaguely remembers the hospital giving her a cane, which is now resting against the nightstand, if she needed it, so she grabs that and stands up. She feels better than anticipated, so she walks downstairs, taking extra care on the steps.

It’s hard not to be mad at herself for getting hurt while fixing the boat yesterday. She had been in a hurry and careless and had squeezed herself in too close to a still hot engine and … well, the rest of the evening was a mess. She’s done fixing the boat, but considering how late is, probably won’t have time to paint it before her customer arrives to pick it up this afternoon.

Maria sighs. She doesn’t want to think about that now, not when she’s hungry and her head hurts. If she can just get a bite to eat, maybe she can think more clearly.

When Maria arrives in the kitchen, Monica is sitting quietly at the table, a plate of eggs and a half-made space shuttle model in front of her.

“Good morning,” Maria says, pouring herself another glass of water at the sink.

Monica looks up and then rushes over to her mother. “You shouldn’t be out of bed! We left a bell on the nightstand for you to ring if you needed us. How do you feel? How’s your leg?”

“Hey, hey, hey. I’m fine. I didn’t see the bell.” Maria puts the glass down and opens her arms. “Come here.”

Monica hesitates.

“You’re not going to hurt me. I think we both want to hug each other, right?”

Monica nods and then approaches, carefully wrapping her arms around her mother. She’s often gotten a little extra worried when Maria doesn’t feel well, and the trip to the hospital probably freaked her out a bit. Maria squeezes their hug tighter and kisses the top of Monica’s head, hoping to calm her down. “This hug is making me feel even better.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry, why baby?”

“It’s my fault you got hurt.”

“What? How?”

“I woke you up in the middle of the night, so you were tired when you were working.”

“No, Monica. Oh, no.” Maria pulls back so they can look at each other. “I got hurt because I was rushing and I did something I knew I shouldn’t do. I wasn’t tired.”

“You weren’t?”

“No. This is not your fault. At all. Can I have another hug?”

Monica leans in and Maria holds her tight.

“And I’m fine, baby. It’s just a burn and some stitches. Only hurts a little.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You don’t have to worry about me. How are you feeling?”

“Still gross.”

“Yeah. It’s not fun. But we’re here for you and we have lots of snacks.” Maria again kisses the top of her daughter’s head. “How’s the space shuttle coming?”

Monica looks up, a small smile on her face. “It’s really cool.”

Maria’s hungry and she still has a lot to do, but all of that can wait.

“Want to show me?”

Monica’s smile gets a little bigger. “Yes!”

* * *

Monica let Maria know that Carol had been outside all morning painting the boat. Maria had just finished fixing it when she got hurt, but was upset at the hospital that she might not have time to finish painting it. So, apparently, Carol had decided to get up early and take care of that herself.

Maria’s heart is very, very full.

Walking out the back door, Maria takes a moment to watch Carol at work. She’s got a new red bandana tied around her hair, and her walkman headphones over her ears. She’s quietly humming along to an upbeat song as she paints.

“Hey,” Maria says when she’s close. Then, raising her voice slightly so Carol can hear her over the music. “Hey, honey.”

Carol stops painting and looks up. She drops the headphones around her neck. “Hey, what are you doing out of bed? I left a bell!”

“Monica already scolded me. I didn’t see it! But, I’m feeling good. And I have this.” Maria points to the cane. “Thanks for letting me sleep.”

“No problem. There’s breakfast inside. Should still be hot, but I can reheat it if you need?”

“I saw it, thanks. I can reheat it myself.”

“Okay. Glad you’re feeling better.” Carol offers a flat smile and goes back to painting.

“You don’t have to do that,” Maria says, a little concerned at what seems to be a sour mood from Carol.

“I know you had to get it all finished by this afternoon.” Carol stops painting again. “Unless … you mind? Am I doing it wrong?”

Maria closes the distance between them and wraps her arms around Carol from behind. “No, honey, I don’t mind. It’s looking real good. Thank you.”

“Gotta get back to it then.” Carol pats Maria’s hand and steps away.

“How were my parents?”

“Fine.” Carol lays on a mechanic’s creeper, and pushes herself under the boat.

Maria’s growing more concerned. “Everything all right?”

“Just want to get this finished.”

“I bet my dad was asleep when you got home?”

“Yep.”

“Must’ve been nice to finally see my parents?”

“Just peachy.”

“OK, now I know you’re a Skrull.”

Carol slides forward and looks up, annoyed. “What?”

“I’ve known you half our lives and I have never heard you call something peachy.”

Carol rolls her eyes. “It was great seeing them … ok?”

“Someone sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.”

“Not my fault,” Carol says, a bit under her breath, as she slides back underneath.

“Is it … _my_ fault?”

“Forget it.”

“No, no, no. I’m not going to forget it. This is about me?”

Carol doesn’t respond.

“So glad to be talking to your feet today. Nice shoes.”

“Fine.” Carol rolls out from under the boat again, and stands up, hands on her hips. “You could’ve told me your mom is pissed at me. Probably your dad, too.”

“What? What happened?”

“Oh, come on,” Carol sighs. “Is that why we hadn’t seen them?”

“Carol.” Maria takes a deep breath, truly confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Will you please just tell me what happened?”

Carol looks at Maria for a long moment, but then she unfolds her arms and sits on the bench. Maria’s not sure if Carol believes her, but at least it looks like she’s going to talk. “I carried you in last night. You were asleep and I thought I was being romantic or chivalrous. I don’t know.” Carol shrugs. “Your dad was asleep. But your mom, she was cold. What would have happened if I wasn’t here? Maria shouldn’t have to do this on her own. Tried to talk to her, but she just left.”

“Oh, honey.”

“I shouldn’t have called them. But Monica looked so miserable. And everything was so great the last time I saw them. Did you know she was mad?” She looks up at Maria. “Are you mad at me? Do you feel that way?”

“No, no. I don’t. And I didn’t know.” Maria sighs. “But … I was.”

“Was what?”

“Mad at you. Really mad. The last time you were back.”

“Oh, not this again.” Carol stands up and stalks towards the wooded area behind the hangar. “I’m tired of talking about what an ass I was.”

“Don’t walk away.”

“We spent hours talking about it on the fucking holograms!”

“I know. I’m only trying to tell you what happened. I think I know why my mom is upset.”

Carol turns and walks back, but only part of the way. Once Maria realizes Carol won’t come closer, she continues.

“After you left, I was mad, and I was sad, and I was scared. And I hadn’t heard from you.” She puts a hand up. “I know why, but I didn’t then. And I ranted about you, about everything, to my mom.”

Carol groans. “I thought we were good.”

“We _are_ good. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect or that I — or you — can’t ever be mad.”

“Why did you have to talk to her about it?”

“She’s my mother. You didn’t complain about me to anyone?” Carol shakes her head. “Maybe you should’ve, Carol.”

Maria sits down on the bench and, after a moment, Carol joins her.

“I’m sorry, Maria.” Carol slumps her shoulders and puts her head in her hands. “I agree with your mom. You shouldn’t have to do this alone.”

“Hey, hey. We’ve talked about this. A lot.” Maria rubs Carol’s back. “I’m not doing this alone. We’re a team. And also … it’s not just about me. You shouldn’t be out there all by yourself.”

Carol picks her head up, her eyes a little watery. “Oh, no, no, that’s ok. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I’m always going to worry about you. How you feel about us here is how I feel about you there.”

“Oh no,” Carol says, in a half-laugh as a few tears fall.

Maria wipes them away, leaving a hand to rest on Carol’s cheek. “It’s OK. I’m OK.”

“You’re more than OK,” Carol says, after a long silence, smirking a little.

“You too.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Carol takes both of Maria’s hands and kisses them. “Gave me a little scare yesterday.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. Probably will hurt again when the painkiller wears off, but it’s not too bad.” She pauses. “Monica was pretty freaked out. She thought it was her fault for waking me up.”

“Oh, Trouble.”

“Yeah. So I think I’ll take her to the bookstore later since we missed the library this morning. For some one-on-one time. If that’s good with you?”

“Yeah, of course it’s good with me. I’ll make dinner while you’re gone, and then we can eat while we watch a movie?”

“Sounds perfect. Also … you carrying me to our room was pretty chivalrous. And romantic.”

Carol tips an imaginary cap. It’s so cute that Maria wants to lean in for a kiss, but Carol stands up before she can.

“The painting is almost done, but I have a few spots to finish. I should get to that now so it’s good when they get here.”

“Wait. I think we still have to talk more about my mom—”

“Shouldn’t have said anything.” Carol sits back down. “I don’t want to come between you two.”

“You’re not.I’m glad you told me.” Maria sighs. “She’s just trying to be protective. She’ll come to dinner. She’ll spend time with us all summer. She’ll see you’re still the same supportive partner you’ve always been and she’ll get over it. And when you’re away, she’ll see that I am still just fine and can take care of myself.”

“That’s what I told her!”

“I know.”

“And if she doesn’t get over it?”

“We’ll figure it out. Together.” Maria takes Carol’s hands again and squeezes. “And thank you for painting the boat. It’s a huge help.”

“Anytime. Anything.”

“Are we good?”

Carol nods. “We’re good. Sorry about before … when I got mad.”

“I forgive you. Just next time, you know, please don’t take so long to tell me if you’re upset with me.”

“Deal.”

* * *

Maria’s upset with her mother, but keeps their Sunday dinner plans, determined to hash things out before the night is through.

If not for Monica, dinner would probably have already progressed into a fight, but for now it’s just awkward, stilted conversation in-between Monica’s long monologues about her upcoming birthday party.

Maria’s asked her not to mention the camping trip yet, without explaining why, and Monica is abiding by that rule. It’s been her favorite topic of the last week, so it’s clearly an effort to not talk about it, and Maria’s proud of Monica for listening so well.

Carol seems a little nervous. She’s been hiding it, but her hand tapping on her leg for most of dinner tells a different story. After she finishes eating, Maria covers it with her own and squeezes.

“Don’t you think 13 is old enough to watch a scary movie?” Monica asks the table.

“Monica, we told you,” Maria says. “ _You’re_ not even allowed to watch Friday the 13th. We’re definitely not going to play it for a dozen 12 and 13 year olds.”

“Kerry’s 14!”

“It’s an R rated movie!”

“How about the Baby-Sitters Club?” Carol asks and Monica groans. “We’ve got plenty of time. I’m sure we’ll find something.”

“Ready for a slumber party, Carol?” Evelyn asks.

“Yes, we are. Monica and I are going to the store to get the decorations this week.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” Carol says, looking to Monica and then back to Evelyn. “We’re getting ready for the party.”

Maria shoots her mother a look, surprised that she’s starting this while Monica’s still at the table, but anything further is interrupted by a knock at the door. Carol gets up to get it, and it’s Tom, standing outside, soaked from the rain.

“Oh hey, come in,” Carol steps aside. “Didn’t realize it was raining so hard.”

Tom looks at everyone sitting around the dinner table. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner. Have a good night.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Carol calls out as Tom starts to back away.

“Tom, we’re finished,” Maria calls from the table. “Everything all right?”

Tom stops and sighs. “My truck is stuck in the mud and I’ve got to go pick up the boys. Just need someone to sit in the front and give it a little gas while I push.”

Carol’s already putting on her boots, neatly arranged by the front door. Tom looks vaguely nauseous when he realizes it’s Carol that will be helping him.

“Carol’s great with cars, and I hurt my leg,” Maria says, hoping Carol’s not too offended, but everyone knows Tom’s still afraid of Carol.

“Hey Trouble,” Carol says, clearly not bothered at all, “why don’t you come, too? You can be in the front and we’ll both push.”

Carol’s suggestion both saves her from having to sit helplessly in the front seat while Tom pushes the car, and lets Maria have some time alone with her parents to talk. Maria looks at Carol and smiles, hoping Carol gets what it means. Carol smiles back, and it seems like she does.

Maria’s also a little amused at the image of Carol trying not to push the car too hard so it looks like both she and Tom are making it work, and wishes she could watch.

“I can … drive?” Monica stands up and runs for her shoes, tossed somewhere in the living room.

“It’s not driving. It’s sitting in the front seat and doing exactly what Tom and I tell you to do.” Carol looks quickly at Maria and then Tom. “If that’s okay with the both of you?”

Maria nods, and so does Tom, after some hesitation that’s probably more about Carol than Monica. Carol gives him a thumbs up. “Great! Two people pushing is better than one. And the quicker you can pick up your sons.” She puts on a jacket and grabs Monica’s. “Let’s go, Trouble!”

“Listen to Carol and Tom,” Maria calls out as Monica runs by and out the front door before Carol can toss her the rain jacket.

“I know, I know!”

“Alright, thank you,” Tom says to Carol, and to Maria, before heading down the porch steps.

Carol flashes Maria a grin. “Be right back.”

“Good luck.”

Carol gives Maria a look that clearly means “you too” before following Tom and shutting the door behind her.

Maria hasn’t even turned back to face her parents before her mother begins. “Good thing she was—”

“There are other neighbors. The truck is not that stuck.”

Evelyn puts up her hands and stands. “I’ll clear the dishes.”

“Sit back down.” Evelyn and George glare at her, so she adjusts her tone. “Please, sit down. I’ll get the dishes later. But we need to talk.”

Evelyn sits down. “Talk about what?”

Maria hides a laugh. “If you have a problem with Carol, you can talk to me about it. Not wait five months and ambush her.”

“She said I ambushed her?”

“Ambush is my word, not hers. What the hel—heck, Mom?”

“You had a problem with Carol first, if I recall correctly,” Evelyn says, with more than a hint of annoyance.

“If you remember that I was mad at Carol, then you remember that we made up. And you can also see that we’re all very happy.”

“What happens when she has to leave this time?”

“I’ll be fine. Just like always.”

Evelyn sighs. “You weren’t last time. And what about Monica?”

“What do you want me to do? Be with someone I’m not in love with? Be with someone that doesn’t make me and Monica happy, doesn’t care for us the way Carol does, just because they live in this town?”

“No,” George says, interjecting into the conversation. “We want Carol to stay.”

“You too?” Maria looks at her father, feeling a little betrayed. She’d hoped this was just coming from her mother. “You know that’s not an option. Look. You can’t just agree with me when I’m mad, and then ignore me when I tell you we’re working things out and that we’re happy.”

Maria stands up, starts collecting the dishes. Her mother tries to help her, but Maria shakes her head. She goes into the kitchen, puts the dishes in the sink and sighs, frustrated.

Her break is short-lived when the front door smashes open and she can hear Monica run in, laughing hysterically. “Noooo,” she yells.

Maria walks back into the dining room, not alarmed, because Monica’s laughing, but … interested.

As Maria enters the room she sees what all the fuss is about. Carol comes into the house, covered in mud and water. She quickly takes off her muddy shoes and sets them by the door. “Gotta give Monica a hug!” Carol yells.

“Noooo!” Monica yells and hides behind Maria.

“Sneaky,” Carol says.

“What happened? Did Tom get his car out OK?”

“He’s good,” Carol says, wiping some mud and hair out of her eyes with the inside of her shirt. “I slipped trying to … not push the truck too hard. _Someone_ thought it was very funny.” She puts on a big show of yawning. “Well, I’m tired. I think I’ll go take a nap … in Monica’s bed!”

“Nooo!!!”

Carol runs up the stairs and Monica chases after her, screaming and laughing. There’s lots of stomping, door slamming, and, mostly, laughing. Maria can only hope the mud finds mostly hardwood floors and not the rugs.

“Get out!!!”

“Must! Hug! Trouble!”

More laughing and door slamming.

Maria looks back at her parents. “I know this is hard to understand. But I deserve to be happy. Monica deserves to be happy. Carol deserves to be happy. And we are. We’re still figuring things out, but we want to make this work. Carol can’t stay here full time. She wouldn’t be happy here if she did — she wants to help the Skrulls. Why should we give up what we have if we want to make this work?”

“Maria, we just want what’s best for you.”

“I know, Mom. Will you please just be open-minded? We had a fight. We made up. I’m not upset anymore. We love Carol and Carol loves us. Please don’t make us feel bad when we’re just trying to make this work. You _know_ Carol.”

Before Evelyn or George can respond, Monica bounces back down the stairs.

“Carol said to tell you she’s taking a quick shower.” Monica laughs. “She was so muddy! She fell so hard.”

Maria pats her leg and Monica sits down. “You’ve got some on your cheek.” Maria takes a napkin and cleans it up. “You stopped Carol from sleeping in your bed?”

Monica nods. “Sooooo …. driving the car was really fun. Can I drive your car tomorrow?”

Maria shakes her head. “No way, baby.”

“What about after my birthday?”

Maria rolls her eyes. “After one of your birthdays, but not this one.”

Monica groans and Maria fake groans in return.

“Wanna help me get dessert ready while we wait for Carol?”

“Okaaaay.” Monica turns to her grandparents. “Want ice cream? We got some this morning!”

“Rocky Road?” George asks.

“You’ll have to wait and see!”

After Monica goes into the kitchen, Maria looks back at her parents. “Please?”

Evelyn takes a deep breath, but then nods. “Okay. I will.” George does as well.

Maria clasps her hands, relieved. “Thank you.”

* * *

Dessert is pleasant, if a little awkward, but Maria’s pleased and relieved that her parents ease their coldness, especially her mother. All five of them even play a few hands of Uno before Monica goes to bed and it’s time for Evelyn and George to go home.

After they walked her parents to the car, Carol took out the trash for the next morning’s collection, and Maria’s inside getting ready to wash what ended up being a lot of dishes. But before Maria can get the water running, Carol comes back in and stands behind her at the sink. She puts her hands on Maria’s shoulders and starts a soft massage.

“Leave the dishes. I’ll get them later.”

Maria would normally argue, but it’s been a long day—a long weekend, actually—and melting into Carol … is exactly what she needs right now.

“Okay, you twisted my arm.” Maria leans back and Carol drops her hands to wrap around her waist.

“There you go,” Carol says, nuzzling into Maria’s neck. “How you feeling?”

“Better now.”

Maria can feel Carol smile against her skin. “And before?”

“Less better.”

“Things seemed good after I fell in the mud?”

“Yeah, I had a talk with my parents while you were out. I don’t have the energy to recap it all right now, but I think they’re gonna stand down.”

“Okay.” Carol shifts her hands back to Maria’s shoulders, and resumes the massage. “We’ll have to thank Tom for interrupting when he did.”

“How did that go?”

“Seems less afraid of me.”

“Great night on all fronts then.” Maria closes her eyes when Carol hits a tight spot on her right shoulder.

“Come sit on the couch and fall asleep watching a movie with me,” Carol says.

“Don’t you have to call Talos?”

“Ten hours from now. Plenty of time to relax.”

Maria hesitates, looking down at the dishes again.

“I’ll wash every single one. I promise.” Carol kisses Maria’s shoulder. “You’ve been taking care of everyone all weekend, even though you got hurt. Relax and let me take care of you.”

“Alright,” Maria says. “That sounds nice. Especially now that I know you’ll carry me to bed if I’m asleep.”

“Yes!” Carol takes Maria’s hand and leads them into the living room. “If you want to talk, I’ll listen. Or we can just be quiet.”

“Oh!” Maria’s about to sit down, but stops herself. “I forgot my medicine.”

“I’ll get it. And some water. Sit down and put your feet up. Need anything else?”

Maria pulls Carol into a kiss. “Only you.”

“You got me.” Carol grins. “And maybe a foot massage?”

“Oh my God. Yes, please.”

While Carol’s in the other room, Maria puts Back to the Future into the VCR. They’ve seen it a million times — it’s one of their favorite movies, and they’ve already rewatched it a few times when Carol’s been back — so it’ll be nice to zone out to.

Carol returns with Maria’s painkillers and antibiotics, two glasses of water, and a box of cookies. “Great Scott,” she says when she see Back to the Future on the television. “Good choice.” She sits down and motions for Maria to put her feet in her lap, and Maria quickly does so.

Maria drifts off not long after Carol starts the massage. When she wakes a few hours later, she’s not in bed, as she had hoped, but still on the couch. There’s a half-empty cookie box on the coffee table and a low light and hum coming from the television on the other side of the room, the movie long over.

Carol’s passed out at the other end of the couch, her feet on the coffee table and Maria’s feet still in her lap. The blanket Maria keeps next to the couch for just this reason has been tossed over the two of them, though Carol has allowed herself very little of it.

Maria doesn’t want to wake Carol, but she also can’t carry her up the stairs, so she’ll have to.

“Hey, honey,” Maria leans over and whispers, knowing it probably won’t take much to wake her, and it doesn’t.

“Oh, hey,” Carol says, her eyes snapping open. “I didn’t wake you, did I? Don’t think I snore anymore?”

“You didn’t. And no, you don’t.”

“You must be happy about that.”

“I’m not.”

Carol’s face breaks, just a little.

“No,” Maria says, quickly. “I’m not happy or unhappy about it. It’s who you are. I love you, all of you. Snore or no snore.” She puts her hand on Carol’s cheek. “I love everything about you.”

Carol seems to be reassured because she smiles and squeezes Maria’s hand. “I love all of you, too. … Even when you talk in your sleep.”

Maria groans. “What did I say now?”

“You didn’t want to go on the rollercoaster! Is there a rollercoaster in this town you haven’t taken me to?”

“What?” Maria says, laughing. “A rollercoaster?”

“Because I love rollercoasters—and so do you—so I would love to see this one. Though I have some concerns if you didn’t want to go on it.” Carol’s laughing, too. “Did it not meet your safety standards?”

“I have no idea.”

“Wait. … Were there clowns on it?”

“I’m not afraid of clowns. I just didn’t like _that_ clown.”

“Sure.”

“If either of us didn’t go on it, it’d be you. Too short.”

“Hey!!”

“You must be this—“

Carol silences Maria with a long, deep kiss. “Do you still,” she says, pausing for another kiss and sliding a warm hand under Maria’s shirt, “want to make fun of me?”

“No, ma’am. I do not.”

Carol picks Maria up, just as she did a few nights ago. “Didn’t think so.”


	6. Camping Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knew this story would take me a bit longer to post, but this was a longer break than expected. Sorry! Happy new year and I hope you enjoy this. Thanks for reading!

Carol’s in the middle of a morning meeting with Talos when there’s a knock at the door of the shed.

It’s just a few days until her camping trip with Monica, and Maria’s due to leave for California the next day, so she’s going over last-minute items with Talos. Everything is on track for her to go, and there’s nothing on their radar that should change things, but that hasn’t stopped Carol from insisting on meetings twice a day until it’s time for her to leave.

“Hey, it’s us. Monica’s stuff is in here.” Maria pops her head in, just barely. “Can we come in?”

“Of course, come in. Come in.”

“Sorry. We’ll be quick. We’re running late.”

“It’s totally fine.”

“Monica _forgot,_ ” Maria says, making air quotes as Carol laughs, “to get it last night … like I asked her to.” She leans in to wave at Talos on the hologram, and gently push Monica away from the desk, where she had already settled in next to Carol.

“I’m always happy to see you both,” he replies.

Monica picks up her softball gear, dumped in a pile at the back wall. “Bye Talos!” Monica waves at Talos and then hugs Carol. “See you later, Carol!” She runs to the door.

“Heads up, Trouble!” Carol picks up Monica’s hat from the desk and tosses it to her. “And remember what I told you. Really tuck your elbow in.” As Monica leaves, she acts out the hitting form she’s been helping Monica work on all weekend.

“I know. I know.”

“I’ll leave you to it.” Maria waves at Talos and then steps out of the frame. She blows Carol a kiss.

“Hey, wait.” Carol stands up and follows her to the door. “Leaving without giving me a real kiss?”

“You’re in a meeting.”

“Didn’t get one this morning.” Carol leans in close. “You were still asleep when I had to get out of bed.”

Maria nods in the direction of Carol’s communicator, on the desk and displaying Talos’ hologram. “Don’t want to show up on that thing.”

“We’re out of view now,” Carol says, dropping her voice to the low whisper that Maria finds impossible to resist.

“Someone’s in a mood this morning,” Maria says after what can only be described as a sloppy makeout session. She hopes they really were out of view of the hologram.

“Someone’s in _these_ shorts this morning.” Carol puts both hands on Maria’s backside.

“I got them a few years ago. Wasn’t sure if I could still pull them off.”

“You look really fucking hot.”

Now Maria’s kissing Carol all over.

The car horn honks outside. “Mom!!!”

Maria groans. “She’s the one making us late and now she’s yelling at me.”

“Teenagers.”

“Shhh. She’s not a teenager yet. You make me feel like an old lady.”

“Hottest old lady I’ve ever seen.”

It’s a few more kisses — and horn honks — before Maria finally peels herself away and heads for the car.

“I’ll try not to take it personally that you’re not this happy around me,” Talos says with a smirk when Carol sits back down.

“I’m plenty happy.”

“You’ve been a little down the past few months.”

Carol sighs, thinking back to what Maria said about talking to someone else about things. “We had a fight … last time.”

“I could tell.” When Carol raises an eyebrow, he continues. “I’ve had enough fights with my wife to know what one looks like.”

“Yeah,” Carol says, again deciding not to correct him about the state of her relationship. “And we made up talking over this thing, but …”

“It didn’t feel right until you saw her.”

“Nothing…” Carol stops herself, but then takes a deep breath. She continues, her voice quiet. “Nothing ever feels right until I see her.”

Carol doesn’t make eye contact with Talos, but if she did she would see him nodding in agreement.

“Oh,” Talos says to break the silence, helping Carol out by changing the subject. “Wulin has again asked me to make sure you still have her birthday present for Monica.”

“I do.” Carol opens the desk drawer and takes out a small box so Talos can see it. “She still won’t tell you what it is?”

“She’s a vault.”

“We’re definitely not opening it in front of anyone else.”

“Seems wise.”

From there, things shift back to their plans and the ship’s repairs, but Carol has to admit that actually talking about personal things with someone else, even for just a moment, was kind of nice. Talos … listened. The way Maria does. He didn’t tell her she was wrong or try to change the subject — like someone else did for six years.

He just listened and understood.

“Anything else?” Carol asks as things wrap up.

“There is one thing.” Talos points to a spot on his cheek. “You’ve got a little … lipstick I think it’s called … right there.”

Carol hastily wipes it away with the back of her hand. “You could’ve said something sooner.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” He points to his neck. “And right here.”

Carol groans.

“You know I could still hear you before, right?”

“Hanging up now.”

* * *

When Maria returns home from dropping Monica off at camp, and spending way too long in line at the bank, she finds a few roses on the floor inside the door. Intrigued, she takes off her shoes and puts them next to Carol’s, neatly arranged, by the door.

“Carol?” Maria calls out, to no answer.

Then she spots another red rose on the table, with a small note in Carol’s handwriting that reads, “Meet me upstairs.”

Maria had hoped they would pick up where they left off this morning, and it seems Carol had the same idea. But when Maria finds more roses in their bedroom, she thinks this was a bit more planned out.

Maria enters their bathroom and Carol’s in the bathtub, covered in bubbles, with several candles lit around the otherwise dark room. There are a few more red roses tossed around the floor.

“Hey,” Carol whispers, her arms rested on either side of the tub. Her hair’s wet and the bubbles are sitting in all the wrong places.

It’s very enticing to Maria, but it’s also a little confusing for a Tuesday morning. “What’s all this about?”

“Did I not make it obvious enough?”

“No,” Maria laughs. “That part is very obvious. Just … why? And why now?”

“Because I love you and because we have the house to ourselves all day and nothing we need to be doing?”

“I see.”

“Listen if you don’t want to join me, that’s fine, just shut the door on your way out, it’s getting chilly and it’s messing with the hot tub I’ve got going on over here.”

Maria shuts the door, but stays in the bathroom. She quickly yanks her shirt over her head.

“That’s the spirit,” Carol says.

Maria wraps her hair and then covers the bandage on her leg with the Xorrian waterproof bandage Carol’s left out for her. “Sure I look real attractive right now.”

“Never looked sexier. And those shorts, Maria…”

“I’ll have to wear them more often.” The rest of her clothes hit the floor.

“You better.”

Carol sits up as Maria climbs in the tub and straddles her. Installing a new tub when she renovated the bathroom was a great idea, Maria thinks.

“Water’s so warm.”

“Told you.”

Maria presses in close, resting her hands on Carol’s lower back. Finally, they kiss. Slow and soft at first, but then they pick up the pace.

“You’re so warm,” Maria manages to say between kisses.

“I can turn it down a bit.”

“No, I like it.”

One of Maria’s hands falls to the scar above Carol’s hip. Without breaking their kiss, Carol gently moves it away.

“Sorry,” Maria whispers.

“It’s okay,” Carol responds, and then drops her head to kiss wherever she can reach.

“Carol,” Maria breathes, “please…”

“One second,” Carol sits back and Maria groans at the loss of contact. “Got a little carried away.”

“Please get more carried away.”

“Oh believe me,” Carol smirks, “I intend to. But first!”

Maria raises an eyebrow when Carol hands her a full wine glass. “It’s 10 a.m.”

“Apple juice. It was just really important we had wine glasses.”

“Important?” Maria asks, stealing a quick glance down at the glass. She’s not …? She couldn’t be …?

It’s not that Maria doesn’t want that. She does. It’s just … this summer has been going great, but last time they’d had a fight, and then there’s the whole situation with her parents… and she wants to make sure Carol is truly comfortable here … and it’s very soon…

Carol doesn’t seem to notice Maria’s confusion. She clinks their glasses together and takes a sip, motioning for Maria to do the same … which she does after she confirms there’s nothing in the bottom of the glass.

“As she sat in the tub drinking her wine,” Carol says, in a bit of a performance voice, “warm hands moved up her stomach and then caressed her breasts.”

Carol’s also acting out her words, causing Maria to close her eyes and moan, whatever she was just stressing about falling further from her mind.

“She closed her eyes as kisses descended upon her neck.”

“Why are you … narrating this?”

“From your book,” Carol mumbles against Maria’s skin.

“From what?”

Carol reaches to the floor and then holds up a copy of the romance novel she picked up from the library last week. “The librarian — who really wants us to get together, by the way — said you loved it.”

Maria rolls her eyes. The roses, the note, the bathtub — now she recognizes it all.

“It’s so … steamy. It’s fine — just didn’t think you were into books like this.”

“I’m not. Some of the moms tried to start a book club, but hardly anyone else read the whole book. And then Connie said she liked it so I agreed with her!”

“Sure.”

“I didn’t know what it was about! It was very embarrassing to return to the library.”

“Uh huh.”

“Give me that.” Maria tries to take the book, but Carol moves it out of her reach.

“It’s okay that you liked it! It’s a good book. And some of those scenes? The one in the back of the limo? Where can we rent a limo around here?”

“You can act it out all by yourself…”

Carol drops the book and takes Maria’s face in her hands. “Sweetie, I’m not making fun of you. I’m sorry.”

“I guess I’ll forgive you.” Maria splashes a few bubbles and then lets Carol wrap her arms around her waist. “You did all this to have a little fun at my expense?”

“Well I kinda hoped it’d end up _very_ fun for _both_ of us.” They both laugh. “You have to admit that book is pretty hot, right?”

Maria nods. “How about,” she says, running her hands through Carol’s hair, “we don’t wait until we’re in a limo?”

“Just what I hoped you’d say.”

* * *

Maria and Carol finally leave their bedroom late in the afternoon to pick up Monica from camp, and then take her to dinner at their favorite diner, since Maria is leaving to meet with Fury the next morning.

They’re early to pick up Monica, and the parking lot is mostly empty, but Maria parks in the back of the lot.

“Why’d you park so far away?” Carol asks as they get out of the car.

“More time to do this.” Maria extends her hand.

Carol hesitates at first, but then laces their fingers together and starts walking. “I like that we can do this now.”

“Me too.”

“I know,” Carol says, stopping and causing Maria to turn around to look at her, “that it’s not like this everywhere, but I’m glad you found a place, and friends, where you can be yourself now.” She takes Maria’s other hand. “And the past few years.”

“We can both be ourselves now. Together. No hiding.”

Carol smiles and squeezes their hands. “I like that.”

“Why don’t we go out on a date?”

“Out … on a date?”

“Yeah, honey. Like we’ve always wanted to.” Maria’d been planning to do this the last time Carol was back, but their time together had been cut short. “Maybe a movie? And then there’s a new bar — I haven’t been there — where we can make out all night if we want to.”

“But — what about Monica?”

God, Maria loves Carol so much. “I’m sure there’ll be a sleepover soon enough.” And if one doesn’t come about — the Wilsons owe her for their date night last month. “What do you say?”

Carol’s smile is so bright it could melt ice. “Do they have karaoke?”

“I hope so!”

“Yes, yes, let’s do it.” Carol leans in and then stops. “OK if I kiss you? A quick one?”

Maria nods. “We just have to worry about embarrassing Monica, but I think—,“ Maria’s interrupted with a brief kiss against her lips, “—we’re far enough away.”

“Got a little excited there. Maria Rambeau is taking me out on a date.” Carol starts walking them towards the field where they’ll meet Monica. “When will you be picking me up?”

“I’m taking you?”

“You asked me out!” Carol shrugs and flashes that smirk.“Plus, I don’t have any money.”

* * *

Carol usually loves driving, but today she would love to be out of this car. It’s only 45 minutes to the campsite, but she and Monica have now been stuck in traffic for almost an hour to go just a few miles because of construction on the highway.

Carol could just pick up the car and fly them there. They’d be at the campsite with their tent set up in 10 minutes.

That would be fine, right?

Carol takes a deep breath and tries to think of happier thoughts — but all she can think about is how much fun she and Monica will have … if they ever get out of this car.

And …

Monica had been so excited to leave for the trip, but all day, even before the traffic, her energy levels have been down. Carol hopes that once they finally get there and have a nice lunch, Monica’s mood will improve and they’ll have a great time.

Monica hasn’t said anything for quite some time in the car. Carol doesn’t mind sitting in silence, but that’s not really how Monica works.

“Hungry?” Carol asks. “The snack bag’s right behind your seat.”

Monica shakes her head.

“Want to see what other songs are on the radio?”

Monica shakes her head.

“You know you can talk to me … about anything, right?”

Monica nods, but doesn’t say anything.

“Do you … are you … feeling OK?”

“I’m fine,” Monica says, a bit harshly. She looks at Carol. “Sorry. Sorry. I just … I’m not sick.”

“Good. It’s OK.” There’s nothing to look at on the road since they’re not moving, so Carol turns and smiles at Monica before looking ahead again. She hopes Monica knows she’s not upset. She’s just concerned. “Sorry about the traffic. Didn’t know they were fixing the bridge.”

“It’s OK.” Monica sighs. “It’s not that.”

 _So it’s something._ “Wanna talk about it?”

“I was going to wait, until later.”

“Well we’re not going anywhere now, and I can listen?”

Monica doesn’t respond at first, and Carol thinks she might not at all, but then she takes a deep breath and starts. “I know … I know that you can’t stay here all the time … with us.”

 _Oh no._ Carol would really like this traffic to end immediately.

“And, and that’s OK. I just thought … what if we went with you? Even if it’s not all the time, maybe for weekends or Christmas break?”

“Monica—”

“But hopefully all the time? I’ve been talking about it and Sally said I should just ask you.”

“What—”

“Please don’t be mad!”

“No, I’m not—”

“I didn’t tell her about space.”

“I know you didn’t.”

“So,” Monica says after a long silence, “can we?”

Maria and Carol hadn’t talked about whether they would come to space, only that Carol couldn’t stay. And they’d talked about that with Monica, too.

Monica’d said she would meet Carol halfway, that night they ate with Fury and Talos’ family. And that night Carol and Monica watched the meteor shower together, she’d asked to visit some time, but this was the first time she’d ever suggested staying permanently.

Carol and Maria never talk about it because they don’t have to. They know the situation, and each other, well enough that it isn’t even up for a debate. It’s not safe for them, and they have a life here on Earth.

But what’s obvious to them isn’t obvious to Monica.

If Carol’s honest, she’d certainly daydreamed about a day when that would be possible, but if it was safe enough for them to come to space, wouldn’t it be safe enough for her to return to Earth? All she knew, and she knew that Maria did as well, was that right now it wasn’t possible.

“Sweetheart,” Carol starts, slowly, “we should talk about this with Mom, too.”

“So … no. She’ll just say no. I asked her and she said no.”

 _Whoops._ Carol has some questions about what Monica’s asked Maria, but the main thing right now is that she can’t let this be on Maria. “This is all from me, not Mom. This is me. … I would love to be with you and Mom all the time, or even just a little more, but it’s not safe.”

“But Wulin and her family are there. There are a lot of kids there. They even have school!”

“They’ve been there for a long time and we’re trying to find them a home. And—”

“We could help! Mom’s a really great pilot!”

“She’s the best.” Carol sighs. There’s one more reason. It’s not the only reason, but it’s a pretty strong one. “If you were out there with me, I would worry about you and Mom so much I wouldn’t be able to keep anyone safe.”

“You don’t have to worry about us.”

“I do and I would and I always will. I told you when I first came back that maybe one day you can visit, but that day is a long ways away and all three of us have to talk about it together. That’s all still true.”

Monica exhales a long sigh, but doesn’t respond.

“And we should talk more about this with Mom when we all get back.”

There’s still no response.

“Okay?” Carol asks, carefully.

“Okay.” A quiet answer.

The traffic finally opens up a few minutes later and Carol is very grateful for that. “Look at us, finally moving,” she says. “Do you need to stop, when I see a rest stop?”

“No, thanks.” Monica puts a hand on the radio dial. “Can I flip?”

“Please. Find us something good.”

Monica eventually picks a station and leans her head against the car window.

The rest of the car ride is quiet. Carol’s not really sure what else to say, but it doesn’t seem like forcing more discussion is a good idea. She doesn’t usually sit in silence with Monica, but that seems to be what the girl needs right now.

* * *

Whether Monica truly accepts what they talked about, or she’s 12 and able to move on quickly, Carol’s not really sure, but once they get to the campsite, Monica’s closer to the girl that talked non-stop about this trip for weeks, much to Carol’s relief.

Carol’s still a bit drained, but seeing Monica getting happy and excited is helping her mood improve.

She went from arguing about broccoli with a little toddler to having emotional family conversations with Monica … basically overnight in her mind. But from the way Maria talks about it, it sounds like it happened fast for her, too.

“Can we put the tent here?” Monica asks at a clearing with a nice view of the lake in the distance.

“Aye, Lieutenant.” Carol drops their gear down.

“Just you two ladies out here camping?” An older man asks, walking by with his wife and their dog. “Or is your husband on his way?”

“Parking the car,” Carol answers without looking up.

“Good, good. Remind him to secure the food. That cooler you have can’t be on the ground. He’ll know.”

“You got it.” Since she’s not facing the man, Carol flashes a grin and rolls her eyes at Monica, who mostly hides her laugh. Carol brought that cooler from the ship for their hike on Maria’s birthday. Not only is it really strong, it’s made specifically for camping, hunting, traveling — and masks all scents.

And also nothing is going to give Carol and Monica any trouble because … Carol.

When the couple are gone, they share a laugh and Carol shrugs, the tension of the car ride fading even more.

“Do you think we can figure out how to set up the tent?!” Carol jokes.

“All by ourselves?!” Monica adds, and they both laugh even harder.

* * *

Maria’s first two days of her SHIELD visit were mostly non-stop meetings, but she finally got to test out a plane this afternoon, so Day 2 has been her favorite so far.

It’s also been the most tiring, and the longest hours. When she finally got back to the hotel, she took a long, hot shower, before ordering room service that should be here at any moment for an almost 10 p.m. dinner. Thankfully, Fury scheduled her first meeting tomorrow at 11 a.m., so she’ll be able to sleep in a little.

She’s flipping through the channels on the TV, hoping to find a movie she’s already seen, when her hologram communicator buzzes. She’s got it on the nightstand, just in case she needs it quickly, so it only takes a moment to turn on.

A dark, barely visible hologram of Carol appears in front of her.

“Carol, hi. What’s going on?” They’re only supposed to use it for emergencies during this trip.

“Hey, hi,” Carol whispers from inside her sleeping bag. “Can you hear me?”

“It’s quiet, but I can hear you. I can’t really see you, though.”

“I’m inside my sleeping bag. Don’t want to wake Monica. Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“Long day. Shouldn’t you be asleep? Is everything OK?”

“We’re here at the campsite. Monica’s fine. We’re fine.I know we said emergencies only, but I just … I needed to see your face.”

“Here I am.” Maria frames her face with her hands and she can hear Carol’s laugh.

“How’s it going with SHIELD?”

Maria doesn’t think this why Carol called her. Carol cares, of course — but they had agreed to only check in with emergencies or serious issues, not for status reports. But she’s not going to argue about it right now. Maybe Carol’s feeling lonely or nervous and really did just want to see her. She can’t hug her girlfriend right now, but she can be there to talk or listen.

“Flew a really nice bird today. Fury says I can work from an air field in Lafayette and do some test flights, look over designs, review test reports. I’m not going to tell him yes now — we can talk about it at home — but I want to do it.”

“Yes!” Carol says, too loudly, before catching herself. There’s some rustling of the sleeping bag. “She’s still asleep. Phew. … That’s great, Maria. Really great. You should tell him yes now if you want to do it.”

“I have time. I want to tell you more about it. Get your thoughts.”

“My thoughts are that you are great and you should do it and I can’t wait to hear more about it.”

“Thanks, honey. So … is there anything you want to talk about?” There’s a long silence, and since Maria can’t quite see Carol’s hologram, she thinks for a moment that the connection was lost, but then Carol responds.

“Monica had a few questions for me, in the car…”

“Something about the car … that’s where she asked me where babies came from when she was 8. What was this about?”

“She wants to know if you two can come to space with me. Permanently, but if that doesn’t work, then for weekends and school breaks.”

“Oh, Carol.” Maria knows how much both her girls were looking forward to this trip, and this is not the way anyone hoped it would start.

“I told her no. At first I said we should all talk about it together, because we should, but then I didn’t want her to think it was only you turning it down. So I said no, and I told her why. And what I said to her before, that maybe one day she can come, but that’s a long ways away, and we’d have to talk about it.”

“Sounds like you handled it well. I’ve talked to her about it, too, but I guess she’s almost 13 now and she’s going to keep asking until she gets an answer she likes.”

“Yeah. … I didn’t know she asked you about it.”

“It was around Christmas last year and …” Carol had really wanted to be back for Christmas last year and couldn’t make it. “I just didn’t want to make you feel worse. And then the next time we saw you …” That had been a difficult time. “So I waited and then she never asked again … and I should’ve told you. I’m sorry.”

“Okay,” Carol sighs. “We all know now and we can talk about it together.”

Maria knows Carol well enough that she can tell she’s upset, even without seeing her face. But now’s not really the time or place to talk about it, and it seems like Carol is willing to move on. “Are you two okay now?”

“Weird car ride, but since we got here it’s been fun. She seems like she can move on from things a little quicker than I can.”

“Is that why you’re still awake?”

“Not really. … Maybe a little? Think it’s just … we’re not at home.” Carol pauses. “Don’t really sleep that well when I’m not at home and with you.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Figured you did. Maybe one day, but … not now.”

“If you want — when you have to go back — we could fall asleep together, over this thing, like we did a few weeks ago.” Maria can faintly see Carol smile. “When our clocks line up.”

“I’d like that. Best night of sleep I’ve had on the ship.”

There’s a knock on Maria’s hotel room door. “Be right there,” she calls, before turning back to Carol. “Room service. Give me a second?”

“No, you can go. And I should go, too. Don’t want to make too much noise and wake Monica up.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. Go enjoy your fancy room service.”

“Alright honey. Thanks. Good luck fishing. I’m relying on you two to feed us for a few days.”

“I’ll be trying not to fall into the water, but I’m sure Monica will have us covered.”

“I love you, Carol. Please at least close your eyes and try to rest.”

“Love you, too. And I will try.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”


	7. Slumber Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This family makes me so happy. One more chapter of this story after this one.

“We caught ten fish!!” Carol’s excited voice on the answering machine.

“I caught nine!” Monica’s voice behind Carol causes Maria to laugh as she listens to the message from an hour earlier. “Carol only caught one!”

“Did you hear that? I caught one!!” Carol says, triumphantly. “We’re leaving the campground now. 11:17. Stopping for lunch, and more ice, and then home soon. I hope. Can’t do traffic anymore. Might just pick up the car.” She pauses. “Don’t worry. I will not pick up the car. Miss you. Love you.”

“Love you, Mom!” Monica calls.

“Ok. See you soon!”

Maria hits the save button on the machine. She’s never deleting that message.

* * *

“She’s sound asleep.” Maria enters their bedroom and shuts the door behind her.

“Yeah it was a pretty busy weekend, and some of those fish she hauled in were heavy. I dunno how she had the energy to get through dinner. Maybe it was the nap she took in the car.”

“Come here.”

Carol doesn’t need to be told twice, and closes the space between them in two strides.

“I’m so glad you showered,” Maria says after a long kiss. “You did not smell good when you got home.”

“I can’t believe I’m making out with a SHIELD pilot.”

“Didn’t take the job, yet. Still gotta convince my parents to help me out with Monica a little extra.”

“No matter what they say, we will figure something out. You want this job, so you should have it.”

“Thank you. … Big day tomorrow,” Maria says, yawning. That’s when they’ll both be talking to Monica about why they can’t move to space with Carol. Monica hadn’t brought it up again, and Carol thought things between them went great for the whole trip, but she and Maria didn’t want to wait to really talk things out with her, as a family. “I know it’s still early, but let’s turn in?”

“Wait, uh…. so,” Carol says, slowly, “I had a lot of time to think in the car while Monica was asleep. I think we need to talk about some stuff, too.”

Maria knew this was coming. “I should’ve told you Monica asked for us all to go be with you.”

“Yes. … And I should’ve told you about what your Mom said right away. But that wasn’t what I meant.”

Carol places Maria’s hands on her hips, on the scars from her transfusions. “You’ve asked about these scars, and I’m ready to talk about them. I want to tell you everything about Hala. Everything I remember. When I woke up. What it was like. … And you can tell me everything about those days for you.”

“Are you sure?” Maria’s voice cracks. She’s wanted to have this conversation for so long. “I do want to talk about everything … but … I don’t want to make you feel bad.”

“Oh sweetie, you could never. … And I was worried about making you feel bad … but we had that fight last time because we didn’t talk things through. I don’t want to keep doing that. Talking about things helps. Someone told me that once.”

Maria takes a deep breath and sits down. “We have been hesitant with each other about some things. Haven’t we?”

“A little bit.” Carol kneels in front of the bed and rests a hand on either side of Maria. “And I don’t want to be anymore.”

“Neither do I.”

“We’re so good now.”

About this, neither has any doubt.

“We are.” Maria smiles. “We can talk this through.”

Carol matches her. “We can. Together. I believe in us.”

* * *

Their conversation with Monica went better than they both expected. She said she understood what they both had explained to her before, that it wasn’t safe for visits to space right now. She asked a lot of questions, and had a lot of ideas, and eventually they all agreed to revisit this discussion often, and start at least thinking about plans for a future space vacation.

Carol also agreed to bring a second communication device, just for Monica—which was something that Carol had already been working on—so that they had a more direct line to each other.

“Yes, we can definitely revisit this every year and see where things stand. I think that’s a great idea, Trouble.”

“So do I,” Maria agrees. “And I think the summer before college is a good target for a _potential_ trip—a _short_ trip—to space. Not very far away.” She looks to Carol, who nods in agreement. “But that is all _very_ tentative and subject to change.”

“I know, I know,” Monica says, then turns to Carol. “When can you come back?”

“After this time?”

“And after that.”

“Oh,” Carol says. “I haven’t really talked about yet with Mom or Talos, but I would like to try to do about three months here, three months there, if I can. Try to be back for Christmas and then next summer.”

“That’d be so cool!”

“I have to talk to Talos, but what do you two think? Would you like if I try to join you on Christmas?” Carol has barely finished the question before Monica crushes her in a hug. “I’ll take that as a yes. How about you, Maria?”

When there’s no immediate response, Carol shifts Monica in her arms and sees that Maria is crying.

Carol hadn’t intended to mention this today, but Monica asked so she answered honestly. She’d wanted to get Talos’ okay before she brought up even the potential of being here on Christmas, her first with them since before the crash, because she didn’t want to disappoint anyone if she couldn’t make it.

Carol slides herself and Monica to the other side of the couch so she can pull Maria into her arms as well. Holding them both, Carol knows she’ll do anything to be home that morning for her girls.

* * *

Monica’s slumber party finally arrives the next weekend, which is why Carol is standing in the kitchen surrounded by a dozen girls on a Saturday night, her arms full from errands she had to run once the party had begun.

“First things first,” Carol says as she hands a sleeping back to one of the taller girls in the group. She doesn’t remember everyone’s—anyone’s—names yet, but she at least remembers which two girls she went to pick up forgotten items for.

“One sleeping bag. … And one sweater.” She then spins to find the girl in the bright green shirt, and hands her a bright green sweater. That had been easy to remember.

“Couldn’t get the movies you wanted, so I asked for some help at Blockbuster. I know you might’ve already seen these, but rewatching is fun. ” Carol hands Monica several family friendly movies—not the horror movies she kept requesting. “The girl at the counter said she loved these.”

She also hands over several boxes of movie theater candy that she picked up at the checkout counter in the hopes that Monica would overlook her not bring back what she asked for.

“Which girl?” Monica asks, eyes locked on Carol.

The other girls all start whispering amongst themselves at once, but Carol’s able to pick up a few pieces. “Andrea works on Saturdays.” “If Andrea says we should watch it…” “Andrea’s so cool.”

“I think it began with … an A?” Carol doesn’t remember the name at all, but she’ll go with this. “Maybe …. Andie? Or… Andrea?”

The other girls squeal and head back to the living room. “Monica, let’s go watch!”

Monica gives Carol a long look before finally smiling. “Okay. Can I make popcorn first?”

“We’ll bring it in. Go on. Get things started.”

“Thanks!” Monica waves Carol closer and whispers, “Extra, extra, extra butter, please. Don’t let Mom see you.”

She runs into the living room before Carol can tell her she absolutely won’t be doing that.

“Pretty smooth,” Maria says when they’re alone in the kitchen. She tosses the first bag of popcorn into the microwave.

“I didn’t lie.” Carol takes out two large bowls and a handful of napkins. “I _couldn’t_ get the movies. That _is_ true.” After careful consideration, she adds more napkins to the stack.

“And you talked to Andrea?”

“I did talk to a girl who worked there.” Carol shrugs. “Could’ve been her.”

* * *

“So what do we do now?” Carol asks. They’re back in the kitchen, having delivered several bags of popcorn to the girls.

“Try to pretend we’re ignoring them, and listen to make sure they don’t tear the living room apart.”

“Oh. OK.” Carol looks vaguely nauseous.

“It’ll be fine. Probably. They only flooded a house that one time.”

“What?!”

“Come on. We’ve got big plans tonight. Washing and folding.” Maria moves to pick up one of the two hampers she’s left by the basement steps, but Carol gently shoves her out of the way, giving them both a flash back to how Carol used to act at the pool table.

“When we go on our date…” Carol picks up the full hampers with ease.

Maria takes a second to enjoy the view. “We are definitely playing pool.”

“Eyes up, Rambeau.”

After getting the laundry started, Maria suggested they play cards to pass the time and … it hasn’t been going well for her.

“How are you still so shit at poker, Rambeau?”

“I’m good at poker!”

“You can’t bluff for shit.”

Maria stares at Carol and then pushes what’s left of her popcorn into the middle of the table. “All in.”

“Call.” Without breaking eye contact, Carol pushes the same amount into the middle of the table. “Let’s see ‘em.”

Maria flips her cards over. A pair of 4s. “Beat that!”

“Yeah, that’s not a problem.” Carol flips her cards over. “Three jacks.”

Maria makes a face when she’s not quick enough to snatch her popcorn back. Carol takes pity and feeds her a few pieces.

“You know me too well. We get some other people here, and I’ll clean up.”

“I think you’d probably lose the house.”

Maria sticks her tongue out. Carol can’t resist stealing a kiss.

“You know, Rambeau, I’m really excited to see what you have planned for our date—“

“I never said I was planning it.”

“But this, tonight, is really nice.”

Maria rolls her eyes. “You’re just saying that because you’re winning.”

“Maybe a little bit,” Carol laughs.

“How about we switch to blackjack?”

“You’re even worse at that. I’m in.”

But Maria’s barely shuffled the cards when they hear the distinct buzz of Carol’s communicator device.

_Not tonight._

“Maria…” Carol stands up quickly to go answer it upstairs, and out of sight.

“Go answer it. We’ll be fine.”

Carol nods and runs up the stairs. She turns on the device as soon as she makes it to the second floor. “What is it?” She asks, and shuts herself into the bedroom. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes, but not—” Talos responds.

“On my way.” Carol’s already getting changed.

“No, no, no. You don’t need to come here.It’s about —”

“Talos, it’s fine. I’ll be there right away.”

“Then you’ll be leaving the place where the trouble is!”

“You’re not making sense.”

“You’re not listening.”

Carol glares and then waves her hand. “What’s the issue?”

“Did you open Wulin’s birthday present for Monica yet? Tonight’s her birthday party?”

“Tonight is the party with her friends. Her actual birthday is in a few days. That’s when I was going to give it to her.”

“Oh good.” Talos exhales. “I was so worried.”

“It’s not safe, is it?”

“No, it’s not. I overheard her telling one of her friends what it is. It’s one of those fire rocks we found on Agalora, which given how it reacted when we tested it on wood….”

“Would be bad when Monica put it on her bookshelf. I thought she swore it was safe?”

“She didn’t know. She thought it was safe and a cool rock from another planet for her friend who would love to go to another planet. It’s very small though, so I don’t think the damage would’ve been too bad.”

“Just burned all her books and not the whole town?”

“Right. I guess we’ve learned our lesson about trusting kids with secret gifts.”

“But it’s fine in the box?”

“It’s likely fine, since it hasn’t started a fire yet, but I would suggest putting it in that food storage container you have until you can bring it back to the lab.”

“Good idea.” Carol sits down on the floor and then starts laughing. “We already have to deal with one fire hazard around here.”

“Oh then just bribe it with Earth coffee and it’ll be fine. That works for us.”

Now they’re both laughing. Maria knocks on the door and peeks her head. “Everything alright?”

Carol nods and motions for her to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around Maria’s shoulders when she does. “Our ki—the kids … almost burned the house down.”

“They what???”

“Probably not the whole house,” Talos says.

Carol kisses her cheek. “All an accident. Nobody had any idea.”

* * *

All the girls are finally asleep in the living room. All the clothes have been washed, folded, and put away. Way too much popcorn has been eaten by everyone in the house. Maria’s in bed, drifting in and out.

But Carol’s wide awake and sitting next to her, with a lamp still on.

“Honey, they’ll be fine. And you secured that rock. You can go to sleep.”

“I’m not tired. I’ll stay awake until everyone gets picked up. Make sure everything’s okay.”

Maria’s too tired to argue, and it’s not like arguing with someone will actually make them fall asleep. And it is Carol’s first time experiencing one of Monica’s sleepovers. Maria didn’t sleep herself the first few times. “Will you at least lay down, and turn off the light? Too bright in here for 1 a.m.”

“Sorry.” Carol offers a small smile. She turns off the lamp and rests her head on her pillow. “Better?”

“Better.” Maria slides over and presses herself into Carol’s chest. “And hold me, please?”

“Absolutely. Gosh … can’t believe she’s 13.”

“She’s not 13 for a few days. Don’t rush this along.”

“Okay.” Carol pulls Maria in closer and kisses the top of her head.

“Carol … Since we want to talk about things when they come up. About before--”

“Sorry about the rock.”

“No, no, you didn’t know. What I wanted to say is …” Maria looks up at her. “If you want to say ‘our kid,’ I’d like that. We can talk to Monica. See what she thinks.”

“Oh,” Carol says, blinking back tears. “I’d like that, too.”

* * *

“Shannon, your parents are here!” Maria calls into the living room as Simon, Carol’s fellow Red Sox fan, and his wife Regina arrive to pick up the last girl from the slumber party.

“Everything survive?” Regina asks.

“Everything appears to still be in one piece,” Maria says, knocking on the table.

“Not like the Johnson sleepover,” Simons says.

When everyone laughs, Carol asks, “Was that the house that flooded?”

“Oh no.” Simon shakes his head. “That was the Wilsons.”

“What happened at the Johnson sleepover?”

“You don’t want to know.” Regina looks at Maria. “Smart of you not to tell her about that yet.”

“Don’t scare her.” Carol makes a face, but Maria waves her hand.

“Before we go, we wanted to ask you two — We are having a barbecue for Simon’s 40th next month, and we’d love for you all to come.”

“When we play the Yankees,” he adds.

"Oh." Carol puts a hand on her heart. “I won’t speak for Maria, but I can’t make it, I’m sorry. I have to head back to Finland at the end of this month.”

"Darn. That’s too bad. It’s been so nice getting to know you. You’re such a lovely couple.” Regina sighs. “Maria, can’t you convince the Red Cross to station her a little closer to home?”

Just in case this is making Carol uncomfortable, Maria laces their hands together and squeezes. “Carol’s doing the work she’s meant to do, and she’ll be here as much as she can.” Maria’s voice stays pleasant, but leaves no room for debate. “It works for us.”

Regina gets the message. “Fair enough. My apologies. We’re sorry you can’t make it, but hopefully we’ll see each other a few more times before you have to go? Maybe even a double date?”

“I’d like that,” Carol says. She may have bristled a little bit at the pushiness, but she genuinely likes Simon and Regina, and she had a great time at the first barbecue earlier this summer.

When they’re gone, and Monica’s gone upstairs to her room, Maria checks in with Carol. “You OK? She can be a little annoying sometimes.”

Carol’s more than okay. “I love you so much. You know that, right?”

“I had a feeling.” Maria flashes a smile that makes Carol’s knees a little weak. “I’ll always have your back.”

“I know. Now…” Carol takes both of Maria’s hands, serious. “Will you tell me about what happened at the Johnson sleepover?”

“You’re not ready.”

Carol shakes her head, laughing, and walks to the kitchen. “I’ll go make sandwiches. You’d think after all that popcorn I won last night, I’d still be full today—but I’m starving.”

Maria checks the locks on the door and then turns to follow Carol, but trips after a few steps. She looks down to see what caused it and … it was Carol’s left boot, quite far from the front door.

The right boot is nowhere in sight.

“You coming?” Maria’s still staring at the floor when Carol leans back into the hallway. “Where’s your head at?”

Maria looks up. Carol’s beaming at her. It’s a few seconds before she can bring herself to reply. “On my shoulders.”

Carol winks. “Then get in here, silly. I’m making lunch.”


End file.
